My Cameras from 1987 to 2021, a Brief History

Recently someone asked in an online forum, what was the path that brought you to the EOS R5. For some, it was the first non-phone camera they owned, for some, it was a journey back to the days for film. I spent a little time thinking and reminiscing and came up with my list of the 20 cameras that brings me to February 2021 and thought to share it here. I tried to include some of the rationale behind changes and will include samples for all of them that I can. So, let’s step back…. The year was 1978…

Read More
Sean Murphy
What does the serial number mean on your Canon lens?

I was recently tasked by our insurance company to find the year of manufacture of all of our gear that is individually listed in our policy. The date of purchase was not good enough, I needed the date of manufacture so with some help from some folks at Canon, I was able to learn the secret decoder ring for Canon lens serial numbers. Here is what I learned…

Read More
Sean Murphy
Skin Smoothing using Frequency Separation in Photoshop

Frequency separation is a popular method for skin smoothing and blemish correction in Photoshop. It is used by high-end re-touchers as well as many photographers to effect skin tone and work on trouble areas. In this post, I will take you step by step on how to set up and use frequency separation to smooth and repair skin while seeing natural looking texture.

So, what is it? Frequency separation divides your photo into two separate layers. The first contains the “high frequency” information, the fine details, pores, fine lines, skin blemishes, and textures. The second contains the “low frequency” information: the colors, shadows, and highlights. By separating these two types of information about your portrait, we can work on each layer separately, while not changing the other, giving us much more control over the finished image.

Read More
Sean Murphy
Quick Tips: Shooting Hockey

Ice Hockey is a tough one to shoot because it is a very fast paced sport with action shifting from one end of the ice and back again within seconds. To accommodate this, I set up in the corner of the rink with a pair of cameras (Canon 5D Mk IV), one with a wide-angle lens (16-35 2.8) mounted and the other with a telephoto (70-200 2.8) to get shots on both ends of the ice. I had both cameras set to shutter priority (Tv mode) with a shutter speed of 1/500th and let the camera handle the aperture and ISO. The SUNY Broome ice rink is very well lit and the glass is pretty clear.

Read More
Sean Murphy