Yosemite National Park Experience

Ansel Adams relied on his trusty pack mule to venture into the Yosemite wilderness with heavy camera gear to capture epic vistas and breathtaking landscapes. I traveled with my family and reliable Peg Perego baby stroller through paved mountain passes to El Capitan and Tunnel View parking lots photographing tourist laden panoramas. I call this family wilderness photography with a wife and three kids.
 

The National Park Service warned us about a Hantavirus outbreak but never adorable and hungry baby cubs luring wary onlookers for constant attention and cherry lollipops. Through the looking glass of our minivan rental, we saw Mule Deer, a coyote, annoying squirrels and Stellar Jays a plenty!

 

With so much grand views of the Sierra Nevada, a bad photograph is hard to come by with this much eye candy. No 4x5 view cameras and plate glass emulsion in my bag during this adventure, but my full frame Canon EOS 5D Mark III ready for landscape detail. A good wide angle with minimal distortion is great for vistas but a zoom lens is even better for compressing forest mountain tops. Fill the frame!

 

Our Yosemite National Park visit was brief but memorable. The trip to San Francisco led the family straight to Jollibee and other "City by the Bay" landmarks. My son had his eyes on landmarks like souvenir gift shops and Jollibee Chickenjoy!

 

My fashion diva oldest daughter willingly posed a many in the picturesque Japanese Tea Garden by the Academy of Science Museum. The middle school fashionista dominated the city and wilderness with ease.

 

Too much family pictures and not enough nap time, make adorable baby cubs angry and short tempered. A bit of family picture advice for the novice, take baby and toddler photographs fresh from a nap and arm your self with loads of patience!

 

A 1080p video shot with the Canon EOS 5D Mark III at 29.97fps. Edited with Final Cut Pro 6.0.6 and used Compressor to get a 1.2gb h264 video file at best quality. I used the Canon E-1 Movie Plugin to automatically transcode to AppleProRes422. The Canon EOS 5D Mark III was paired with the Canon EF 17-40 f/4L, Canon EF 24-105 f/4L IS and the Canon EF 70-200mm f/4L IS lenses. For audio, I used a Sennheiser MKE400 shotgun microphone. For stability, I used a Manfrotto 701HDV fluid head with Benro 3580 tripod legs.

 

The Golden Gate bridging gaps with one clam chowder filled sourdough bowl at a time. Considered a civil engineering wonder of the world, the Golden Gate Bridge at sunset strikes an ominous pause through my "L" glass. A sturdy tripod is a must on top of this windy overlook for the extra sharp details.



My four wonders of the world posing in hot pink, camouflage and Kirkland Signature Khaki in front of another grand wonder, Half Dome at Glacier Point.



You can view more in my Yosemite National Park and San Francisco 2012 Gallery shot with the Canon EOS 5D Mark III paired with the Canon EF 17-40mm f/4L, EF 24-105mm f/4L IS and EF 70-200mm f/4L IS lenses.
 

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Canon EOS M Video Test

The new Canon EOS M maybe a day late and a dollar short in the competitive mirrorless camera market. Panasonic, Sony and Leica, to name a few, have dominated the compact, no real viewfinder and interchangeable lens market for hungry consumers for the past several shopping seasons. What does the Canon EOS M have to offer this late in the game? For a retail price of $800, the 18 megapixel Canon EOS M features a very large APS-C sensor with DIGIC V processor, like in the Canon EOS Rebel T4i/650D. With a large CMOS sensor in a compact form factor comes a new interchangeable EF-M lens system as well. The EF-M 22mm f/2 STM lens is the standard kit lens with the Canon EOS M. As a 35mm focal length equivalent on a crop sensor, the new EF-M lens is fast and quick due to the f/2 aperture and stepper motor. Be patient, I will have more ISO and still image quality tests in my upcoming Canon EOS M Verdict and Video Review. Enough with the basics! The Canon EOS M features full manual exposure and audio control for Full HD 1080p glorious video. The full manual control is partly touchscreen because of the smaller landscape of the mirrorless form factor but that gimmicky feature looks bad only on paper. For such a compact camera, the touchscreen is quite useful and handy at times. For audio inputs, the Canon EOS M has built in stereo microphones and a mic jack for an external microphone. Now for my actual Canon EOS M Video Test... Now for the video good stuff! The video quality is impressive, especially with the new EF-M 22mm f/2 STM lens. The color, sharpness and that dreamy "bokeh" in the video footage makes this a formidable contender in the mirrorless market. You basically get Canon Rebel T4i/650D video quality in half the size. The full manual control for exposure and audio is a bonus for the budget filmmaker. There will be soon a EF-M to EF lens mount adapter for the Canon EOS M so I can mount all my "L" glass like the big boys. Just like the T4i/650D and 5D Mark III, the Canon EOS M has total video capture time of 29 minute and 59 seconds. My kid's Christmas Recital can last longer than 12 minutes. Hooray...I think? Now for my initial bad stuff! I am a big fan of manual focus during video capture. My experienced eyes and precise fingers can roll that lens barrel with precision better than most machines. The focus throw on the new Canon EF-M 22mm f/2 STM lens is average but very smooth to focus manually. The only problem is the EF-M lenses need power for AF and MF. Since there is no external AF/MF switch on EF-M lenses, you have to go into the menu to select the focus option. Not very user friendly when you are switching back and forth from still pictures with AF and shooting movies with manual focus. The other pink elephant in the room is the infamous Hybrid AF Servo during video capture. Just like the Canon Rebel T4i/650D, the continuous AF during video recording was a big disappointment. My Canon EOS M Hybrid AF Video Test is coming soon to give you more details. Patience! For all those Apple Final Cut Pro fanboys! Just like the modified .plist of the Canon E-1 Movie plugin of the Canon Rebel T4i/650D, I hacked the .plist again for the new Canon EOS M. With this .plist modification, you can automatically log and transfer your Canon EOS M .mov files to AppleProRes422 instead of manually transcoding. Just read the above .plist and follow my links in my last Canon EOS Rebel T4i/650D Video Test for detailed instructions. The Canon EOS M is a mighty new contender in the mirrorless market. My dream Powershot G1X and the new Powershot G15 did not feature full manual exposure and audio control to my disappointment. I think the Canon marketing department has something up their sleeves for the moment. Now, if they only lower the Canon EOS M price point like the other mirrorless brands... Stay updated for my full Canon EOS M Verdict and Video Review by Becoming a Fan on my Facebook Fan Page and following me on Twitter!

***Major Update***

My Canon EOS M Verdict and Video Review is complete and posted with a full gallery of more pictures and videos like this Rokinon 8mm T3.8 Fisheye Cine version lens. Click here.

Trunk or Treat

When two leopards, a soldier and a Nun exchange sugary treats in a dark parking lot of an elementary school, you get a bad joke and my kid's annual Trunk or Treat days before Halloween.



Costumed "farces" unite to gather and consume sweets at an alarming rate before bedtime. The high fructose race against the clock is hindered by smothering parents capturing the precious moments.



Cute and adorable leopards on the prowl. While my almost 20 month old baby distracts curious onlookers with charming fuzzy wuzzies, my clever oldest makes her move to the candy bowl. Candy corn is pushed aside for peanut butter cups in this leopard den!



Let the Holiday Season begin! Any trip to the "Dollar" and "Crafts" store for seasonal decorations is justified from October to Easter for the "boss". Nothing says themed presentations like tacky and ornate plastic goods!



 A father and son sharing a defining moment with matching soldier costumes this Halloween season. "Moment" meaning my last minute scramble to Army Navy Surplus stores all over the county for proper garment sizes in digital camouflage. My son, like me, shares the same fascination with anything "military". From weapons of mass destruction to his all time favorite Call of Duty: MW3, my son is the "true" modern soldier.



You can view more pictures in my Trunk or Treat 2012 Gallery shot with the Canon Rebel T4i/650D paired with the Canon EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS lens.



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LEGOLAND Florida First Anniversary

Bright Lights, Brick City! The month of October marks the 1st Anniversary of LEGOLAND Florida and the family friendly Halloween festivities of Brick-or-Treat. Beautiful Fall weather this weekend contrasts with last year's rainy LEGOLAND Florida sneak preview weekend in 2011. Miniland USA is transformed into a Halloween Brick-or-Treat spooktacular. Ghostly goblins and scary LEGO creatures of the night haunt the LEGO grounds of Miniland USA. My young ones gobbled up all the free trick or treat candies of the Brick-or-Treat Trail and I clicked pictures a many of illuminated LEGO cities in Miniland USA. When it comes to sugared freebies, corporate endorsements are a blessing. Look who's big enough to ride with the family? My 19 month old baby daughter can finally join us in theme park rides. No more stroller duty for her! Look who's too cheap to buy the souvenir photo of this glorious event? My 18 megapixel Canon EOS Rebel T4i saved me at least twenty bucks! Nothing says togetherness better than social connectivity under the old Banyan Tree in Cypress Gardens at LEGOLAND Florida. The Apple iPhone is the glue that bonds long time family friends of Getawaymoments. At first glance, progress moving nowhere! Second glance, LEGOLAND Florida closes at 9pm on weekends in October. Miniland USA is illuminated like NYC's Time Square and the Las Vegas Strip but all in LEGO. Even the Tampa Bay skyline makes a night debut! Old City Hall, Tampa Theater and even the "beer" can building glimmers in the fake Hillsborough river moonlight. Miniland USA at night is quite remarkable... A year has gone by but Youtube makes video memories last forever. Just a quick montage of the rainy preview weekend at LEGOLAND Florida last year. Get a towel, you will definitely need it... Take one part baby stroller and one part GoPro Hero 2 to LEGOLAND Florida. You have yourself the ultimate mobile infant dolly to glide the crowded streets of Miniland USA. When the cinematic greats of Getawaymoments and ChadSorianoPhotoBlog converge, you also have vehicular verite at its best! Happy orange LEGO pumpkin Halloween from the Soriano family! May all your trick or treat bags be filled with less candy corn and more chocolate with a heavy emphasis on Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. Who could say no to this adorable baby? I see chocolate and iPhone 6 in her future. You can see more cuteness in my LEGOLAND Florida First Anniversary and Brick-orTreat Gallery 2012 shot with the Canon EOS Rebel T4i/650D. Stay updated with the latest gear by Becoming a Fan on my Facebook Fan Page and following me on Twitter!.

Apple iPhone 5 Experience and Video Test

The Apple iPhone 5 launch day was just three weeks shy of a calendar year since the release of the previous Apple iPhone 4S. Did almost a year make a world of difference? Consider the new Apple iPhone 5 more of an evolution than a revolution to the more advanced average consumer, nowadays.
My Apple iPhone preorder days are over. Ever since the two previous Apple iPhone launches, I learned a valuable lesson about supply and demand in the Apple world. Avoid the demand online and head to the supply with no wait at your local AT&T Store like this one at International Plaza in Tampa, Florida. No lines, no chaos and no headache!
Faster, lighter, slimmer and sharper describes the new Apple iPhone 5 smartphone. A faster A6 processor cranks out the new features of iOS 6. A new design with lighter materials gives a near weightless and slim form factor than the previous Apple iPhone 4S. The longer screen gives way to a sharper "Retina" display of 4 inches instead of 3.5. The crystal clear 1136x640 resolution screen is now a native 16x9 aspect ratio. Hooray for the video filmmakers! I can go on and on about the new features of the Apple iPhone 5 but I am really interested in the photography and video capabilities. Read on...
The 8 megapixel iSight camera with f/2.4 lens touts a wider field of view and better low light capability with improved noise reduction for both stills and HD video. The slightly wider angle glass lens helps the already amazing picture quality in daytime and nighttime.
Although this new Blogger interface does not give this Apple iPhone 5 Panoramic photo at ISO 3200 justice, the low light performance and noise reduction makes a world of difference. This ISO 3200 is comparable to my Canon Powershot ELPH 300 HS. This impressive caveat combined with the new iOS 6 Panorama feature gives a new meaning to "Smartphone". Minus the optical zoom of the Canon ELPH 300 HS, the Apple iPhone 5 is really a camera with a phone built in...

The improved iSight camera features spill over to the amazing 1080p Full HD video capture of the Apple iPhone 5. The wider angle f/2.4 glass lens, improved noise reduction in low light and better in camera image stabilization makes this iPhone 5 an impressive filmmaker's tool. My Apple iPhone 5 verdict? The photo and video capabilities are a night and day difference with the previous iPhone 4S. The physical attributes of the iPhone 5 are simply beautiful. A great piece of Apple machinery! Now for the bad stuff! The Apple Lightning connector is great on paper but horrible for the rest of the world with a plethora of previous dock connectors. It is just another Apple product to consume with our money. The Google iMap application is now replaced with a Apple designed Map app powered by Tom Tom. Why change something that is not broken? My quick solution to this problem is to download the free Google Chrome App. Bookmark the built in Google Map tab in the Chrome browser and your Google Map problems are solved. Hurry and download the Chrome App before Apple pulls the plug! To view more photos and videos in full resolution shot with the Apple iPhone 5, you can see them all in my Apple iPhone 5 Experience and Video Test Gallery. Stay updated with the latest camera gear by Becoming a Fan on my Facebook Fan Page and following me on Twitter!

Canon EOS 6D Full Frame DSLR Announced

The full frame sensor DSLR market has new competition with the introduction of the 20 megapixel Canon EOS 6D. According to Canon, the Canon EOS 6D is the smallest and lightest full frame DSLR with built in GPS and Wi-Fi capabilities. Consider the Canon 6D a full frame Canon 60D with no articulating screen but with most of the features of the bigger and more expensive Canon 5D Mark III. I have to say most features because there is no headphone jack to monitor audio for video as well as dual slots for flash memory. At a retail price of $2099, the Canon EOS 6D is expected around December 2012 to hit the streets.



The full frame Canon EOS 6D is priced and marketed in between the Canon 7D and the more expensive Canon 5D Mark III in the EOS lineup. Canon APS-C and EF-S lens photographers maybe less shy to upgrade to all the advantages of a full frame sensor. Take note, the Canon 6D with DIGIC 5+ has only an 11 AF point focus system compared to the 61 AF points of the 5D Mark III, along with a slower 4.5 fps shutter rate compared to 6 fps of the Mark III. You get what you pay for...



The Canon 6D's shortcomings are made up by the additional features of consumer add-ons like GPS tagging and Wi-Fi capabilities. Camera Pro's may frown upon gimmicky features, but the built Wi-Fi has caught my consumer eye. Canon has developed a mobile device App to work in conjunction with the Canon 6D for a host of Wi-Fi enabled remote capabilities. The Full HD video features carry over from the Canon 5D Mark III as well, except for the infamous headphone jack to monitor audio during video capture. Minus that useful function, the Canon 6D can record up to 29 minutes and 59 seconds of 1080p video in ALL-I and IPB compression rates like its big brother. I have to add full control over video exposure and audio levels, also. Not too shabby for a smaller and better featured Canon 5D Mark II...Did you notice the removal of the joystick controller on both body and new BG-E13 grip? You now have the Canon 60D multi-controller dial instead. Hmmm...at least you have the Live View/Movie record button to quickly go back and forth from stills to movie mode!



I almost forgot about the new Canon Powershot G15 announcement. Obviously, overshadowed by its bigger Canon G1X advanced point and shoot brother, the Canon Powershot G15 features a smaller sensor and a faster f/1.8 multi-zoom lens. The Canon G15 loses the articulating screen of the previous G12 and still does not feature full manual control over video like the ,yet to be released, mirrorless Canon EOS M. Not to exciting in my opinion...



My Canon EOS 6D Verdict and Video Review will come shortly on this small and compact powerhouse. I am curious about the capacity of the buffer memory shooting RAW images compared to the 5d Mark III as well as the new 20 megapixel CMOS sensor's ISO capabilities. It is only 98 days until Christmas...

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Images courtesy of Canon Europe Press Release.

A Labor of Love

A few words spoken rewards the thankless without expectation. The diaper changes, the sibling rivalry and the constant attention to every wanton need wanes with a simple baby babble of "Hi, DaDa!". In this family, Labor Day celebrates achievement in milestones.



The hours of preparation by my beloved wife honors the memory of marinated Pinchos of Puerto Rico. Sliced pork seasoned and skewered like Filipino kabobs over flame pleasures the palate and numbs parental headaches of child upbringing. Sounds like good medicine to me!



Growing up is hard to do these days. Academic expectations are higher and more demanding from school and parents. Homework, tests, projects and more homework can seem overwhelming to little minds with big hearts. Madeline and Jude, keep up the good school work and it will all make sense when you are adults.



Parental patience burns faster than marshmallows roasted over an open flame without adult supervision. Add a little Hershey's chocolate sandwiched between two crispy graham crackers, you have yourself a potentially sweet s'mores meltdown. Can somebody please pass "some more" virtue?



Labor Day symbolizes the end of summer but not in this household. Family trips to the beach for sunset strolls and sandy swim sessions last until the cooler weather arrives for two more months. Two very very long months of more Florida heat and humidity...



Almost 18 months old and counting for my baby daughter Serena this Labor Day Weekend. Your spoken words are growing and adorable to parental ears. The bursting charm and cuteness are as big as your never ending appetite for cheeseburgers in paradise.



You can view more corn cobs and pics in my Labor Day Weekend 2012 Gallery shot with the Canon EOS Rebel T4i/650D paired with the Canon EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS lens.



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