South Sioux City’s Tristen Sharp defends against East’s Brianna Mozer during volleyball action at the South Sioux Mini Dome Monday, September 29, 2008. (Jim Lee/Sioux City Journal)

PHOTO GALLERY

Nowadays whenever I have to shoot a concert I just assume I will have to jump through some hoops. But what those hoops are varies depending on the concert promoter. It’s not unusual for the promoter to only allow photos to be taken during the first one to three songs. For the Carrie Underwood concert tonight I was only allowed to shoot two songs, but it was the third and fourth song. Go figure. And we could only shoot from the back of the house by the soundboard.

And I also had to sign a contract stating that the photos could only be used in the Sioux City Journal and on siouxcityjournal.com and could only be published within one week of the concert.  There were a few other stipulations in the contract, most of them pretty standard and restricting how the photos could be used. Contracts are becoming more and more common at concerts. But sometimes I wonder why they worry so much about restricting the media when there are dozens of fans with cell phone cameras and point and shoot cameras taking photos and video.

PHOTO GALLERY

Sioux City’s Mike Keenan battles Omaha’s Matt White for the puck during Musketeers hockey action at the Tyson Events Center Saturday, September 27, 2008. (Jim Lee/Sioux City Journal)

PHOTO GALLERY

This photo made me laugh a bit. The players seemed more interested in battling each other than getting the puck. You can see a 3-photo sequence of this scramble in the photo gallery along with other shots from the game. Photo was taken with a 200mm f/2 lens and 1.4X Extender on a Canon 40D camera.

Briar Cliff’s Andrew Prohaska is tackled by Midland Lutheran’s Chris Butterfield during football action at Memorial Field Saturday, September 27, 2008. (Jim Lee/Sioux City Journal)

PHOTO GALLERY

I’m still loving my 200mm f/2 lens, though I’m finding I do miss the versatility that I had with the 100-400 zoom. I picked up a 2X Extender a couple weeks ago, which makes the lens a 400 f/4, a great combination for daytime use.

I know the 2X Extenders seem to get a bad rap, but I found quickly that it depends on the lens it is used on. It works great on the 200/2. It slows down the autofocus a bit, but it produces sharp results.

Last week I did try the 2X on my 70-200/2.8 lens. I can see why it’s earned a bad reputation when I use it on the zoom. The results were usable, but not razor sharp. But since it produces great results on the 200 prime lens, I don’t think it’s fair to blame the extender. It’s just a matter of matching it with the right lens.

Oh yeah, and I also have a 1.4X Extender (which I’ve had for a while.) The 1.4X does work quite well with the zoom and it’s simply amazing when used on the 200/2. The hockey photo in the post above was shot with the 1.4X on the 200/2.

West’s Dex Gordan is pursued by North’s Cody Ahrendt, 19, and Jerry Angelle, 29, during football action at Olsen Stadium Friday, September 26, 2008.  (Jim Lee/Sioux City Journal)

PHOTO GALLERY

When you go to our reprint site, you will find several folders that contain photos organized by the date they were published. We also have separate folders for high school sports, college sports, Bandits, Musketeers, Explorers and other special sections.

I often have people ask me how they can get reprints of Journal photos because they can not find any information on our website on how to order. Well, the Journal does sell reprints of staff produced photos and there are links on our site, they are just well hidden.

Occasionally someone will call and want to come down to our office and pick up a print right away. We do not actually make any prints at the Journal. We shoot digital images and the photos are downloaded into our computer system and the copy editors import the photos for the pages which are burnt onto plates that go on the printing press where the newspaper is printed every day. So to produce an image in the paper we have no need for an 8×10 glossy print, we just use the digital file.

Since we do not make prints here, we have a company called Dotphoto that handles the reprints for us. You can see all of our photos on the reprint site, pick the one you want and the size, pay for it with your credit card and they will print it and ship it directly to you.

There is one little flaw with their system. Not all of our photos will fit neatly into the 4×6, 5×7, 8×10 formats. They will automatically crop off the ends of the photos to make it fit the size format. Sometimes it looks good, sometimes it doesn’t. When you place an order and after you pick the size of the print, you will see a box that says “crop” and it will automatically be checked. If you un-check the box then the entire image will be printed without chopping off the edges and you will probably be happier with the results.

When you place an order for reprints, there is a box that says “Crop.” It is automatically checked when you pick the size of print that you want. For best results you will usually want to un-check that box.

Jim Anderson tees off on 18 during the Dakota Dunes Super Amateur Golf tournament Sunday, September 21, 2008. (Jim Lee/Sioux City Journal)

PHOTO GALLERY

I was riding in a golf cart with reporter Barry Poe and he happened to pull up behind the tee box and I liked the angle. Photo was taken with a 17-40mm lens on a Canon 40D camera.

East’s Quenton James catches a pass for a touchdown against Urbandale during football action at Olsen Stadium Friday, September 19, 2008. (Jim Lee/Sioux City Journal)

PHOTO GALLERY

Canon announced the new 5D Mark II digital SLR. The camera features a 21.1 megapixel full-frame sensor, shoots 3.9 frames per second, has an ASA range of 100-6400 (which is expandable to ASA 50 to 25600) and it is capable of recording high definition video.

Canon already announced the 50D a few weeks ago. The 50d has a smaller sensor, so it has a 1.6 crop factor (just like my 40D’s,) 15.1 megapixels, 6.3 frames per second and an ASA range that is expandable to 12,800.

Right now both of my 40D’s are fairly new and I’ve been really happy with them, so I am in no hurry to buy a new camera. I’ll probably wait until both cameras have been out on the market for a while and see the results others are getting in real-world shooting situations.