This week’s Facebook Fan photo of the week was taken by Chris McNeill using the Sigma 50mm F1.4 EX DG HSM.

Here’s his story behind the shot:

This picture was taken last night (April 9, 2013) at Samuell Farm park in Dallas County, Texas (Sunnyvale) in a field of bluebonnets. The subject is my three-year-old son Jackson. I used my Canon T4i with battery grip and GP2 GPS receiver, Black Rapids strap and my Sigma 50 mm f/1.4 lens. The shot was taken without a tripod (handheld) at IS0 100, f/1.8 and 1/1600th shutter speed, aperture priority mode.

About Chris:

I am a business attorney by day, photo enthusiast by hobby only. I’ve only been into photography for about 15 months, and am self taught. My Sigma 50mm was my first big splurge (purchased locally at Competitive Camera), and many of my best shots were captured with that lens. I captured a similar shot last year so decided to make it an annual tradition. I waited for the setting sun to provide natural warm lighting. I don’t have any online portfolios (other than my Facebook wall for friends and family) since I do not do this professionally. “Stonewall Photography” is just a dba I made up for posting on Facebook.

I have spent the last 20 years photographing families, children, and babies and creating maternity portraits.  This has been my passion and I have enjoyed much success over the years.  I also have a passion for teaching and have been fortunate enough to photograph professional models that have been trained to stand a certain way and have a look that can sell anything, except maybe for some real emotion.  I have challenged myself when teaching my students, to find the real person underneath that model stance so that I can create magic by finding out who they really are and also help my students learn how to disarm their subjects in order to capture what truly makes for a good storytelling image, true emotion.

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The Sigma DP3 Merrill is the newest member of the DP family, and the fourth camera in the Sigma line built around the amazing Merill Generation Foveon Direct Image Sensor. The DP3 Merrill is fitted with a 50mm F2.8 DP prime lens that equates to 75mm on the APS-C stacked image sensor. And, in a first for the DP lineup, it offers 1:3 macro magnification.

Antique ramhorn handled carving knife and asparagus. Sigma DP3 Merrill. Lit with a softbox strobe. ISO 100 1/400 at F/8. I chose the very high shutter speed to ensure no camera shake.

Here is a 1000×667 pixel view at 100% (Click the photo to fly out to 100% view) Notice the incredible level of detail in the knife, the asparagus, and the wood grain!

The combination of macro focusing combined with the incredible detail captured at every pixel location due to the unique Foveon sensor design adds up to images absolutely loaded with the finest details perfectly captured–every thread and fiber in silk ties and scarves, spots of pigment in watercolor paintings, and  even the tonal fluctuations in the grooves of an LP.

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The Contemporary, Art, and Sports lens lines of the new Sigma Global Vision are guided by a design philosophy from conception through execution. Three premium lens lines with the express purpose of complementing photographers’ vision.

 Learn more about the three new lens lines of the Sigma Global Vision.

This week’s Fan Photo of the Week was made by Liam Doran with the Sigma 10-20mm F3.5 EX DG HSM lens. He tells us:

Photo by Liam Doran. The Sigma 10-20 accentuates this image by making the skier look like he is much higher off the ground than he is and gives the viewer a great sense of place as it shows the aspens both vertically and horizontally.

This image was taken during an assignment for OnTheSnow.com at Steamboat Springs, Colorado.  Steamboat is famous for their aspen glades and there is no lack of photos from this zone.  I needed a fresh look and the Sigma 10-20 f3.5 helped me with my vision.  I clicked out of my skis and got as low as I could to the snow. I asked my skier, Mike Maroney, to ski off the small rock–but to absorb it not launch off of it.  The 10-20 accentuates this image by making the skier look like he is much higher off the ground than he is and gives the viewer a great sense of place as it shows the aspens both vertically and horizontally.  This image ran as the lead in to the online gallery and as a two page spread in Mountain Magazine’s photo annual this month.

Tech specs:

Camera Canon 7D
Lens: Sigma 10-20 f3.5 shot at 11mm
ISO 500 1/1000 sec at f 4.0

Liam Doran is a full time adventure travel and outdoor sports photographer based in Breckenridge, CO.  He is currently the Senior Photographer for OnTheSnow.com and much of his work is found in the pages of Powder, Ski, Skiing, Backcountry, Mountain Magazine, Outside, Freehub and more.

Check out his website here.

Fan Liam Doran Photography on Facebook.

Want to be featured here? How we choose the Fan Photo of the Week.

©2013 Ann and John Perdue

Our Rocks & Water photo was taken with the Canon 6D and Sigma 2.8 70-200mm lens shot at 104mm ISO 640 2.5sec and was taken in Malibu, California

About us: My Husband John and I share the same passion of photography, when we have a chance aside from work and our two children we either shoot together or apart.

We both love shooting just about anything from nature, landscapes, events to portrait photography we started as a business in August 2012

We are learning new things every day and I don’t think we will ever stop learning!

Our website is www.victoriankeyphotography.zenfolio.com and our FB fan page is www.facebook.com/victoriankeyphotography

Ann was also just featured on the Behind the Loupe blog. Check it out!

The question for photographers who demand the ultimate in image quality in a compact camera is simple.

Which DP Merrill camera do you choose: The new DP3 Merrill with its 50mm F2.8 Macro lens, the DP2 Merrill with its 30mm F2.8 or the DP1 Merrill with its 19mm F2.8 lens?

The Sigma DP Merrill, DP2 Merrill, and DP3 Merrill.

Each of these luxe compact cameras is the perfect pairing of a fast prime lens, the Merrill Generation X3 Direct Image Sensor, and specially tuned image processing algorithms. And the images, of course, speak for themselves–both with incredible detail and sharpness, and in the big-camera feel to background blur when shooting with shallow depth of field at fastest apertures.

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In a rare interview at this year’s CES show, Sigma’s CEO, Mr. Kazuto Yamaki shares his vision for Sigma today and moving into the future as well as the inspiration behind his newly introduced Global Vision and the products that give meaning to that vision.  Learn about how quality continues to define Sigma’s product line with no exception.  Mr. Yamaki is warm and open and lets us know just how personal his work is to him.

This week’s Fan Photo comes from Tim Thurman of Whitmore Lake, Michigan. He tells us:

Tawas Point Lighthouse, by Tim Thurman

I wanted more than the sunset setting on the Lighthouse, I needed something to add a little bit of composition. I walked a few trails and found this old dead tree trunk. After a few shots, I found the foreground too dark and background too light. I ran back to my Jeep to get the SpeedLites. I played with many different off camera shots. Firing both on and off camera flashes produced this shot.

Camera: Canon 7D
Lens: Sigma 10-20mm 1:4-5:6 DC HSM
Flash: Canon 320ex
Tripod: Manfrotto
Technical information : 1/250 F/6.3, ISO 100, 10mm

I have always had a passion photography. I have had my share of Polaroid cameras when I was a child and Point and Shoots up to a few years ago. I finally broke down and bought my first DSLR 3 years now I own three!. It is mainly a hobby. First and foremost I have fun.  And in the end, for me, that is what it is all about. I am 41, I live in Whitmore Lake, MI. I am a divorced  father of two beautiful girls, who are always welcome to pose for me and use any of my gear. I have a wonderful Fiancé who also enjoys shooting pictures. We plan most everything we do to involve some type of photography.

Visit his Facebook pages here and here. Connect via Flickr! and Fine Art America.

Sigma Photo Pro 5.5 is a significant update to the raw processor for X3F Raw files from Sigma’s cameras featuring the unique Foveon X3 Direct Image sensor as there is a completely new, dedicated monochrome processor for raw files from the original Sigma SD1 and all Merrill generation cameras, the SD1M, DP1M, DP2M, and the brand-new DP3M. And it is now available for download.

Eastern Willet, Sandy Hook, NJ. The dedicated black and white X3F RAW conversion mode in the newest version of SPP creates stunning silvertone images. Sigma SD1 and 50-500mm zoom. 1/640 F6.3 ISO 100. Converted to grayscale in Sigma Photo Pro 5.5 Monochrome.

The combination of the signature superfine detail of the X3 sensor and a touch of the film grain effect makes for amazingly tactile black and white images! This swan was seen through the SD1 and 50-500mm at 1/1600 F6.3 ISO 400 fully zoomed.

I was lucky enough to have spent much of the week prior to the release going public working up a ton of my X3 files in the new software, and I’ve smiled a lot seeing just how beautifully the new monochrome mode renders detail and tonal gradations. And the film-grain option is simply wonderful for adding a classic feel to images. The results, truly, can be breathtaking. I’ve worked up close to fifty of my shots so far, and this new monochrome process has me excited to get out and shoot more images with my SD1 and DP2M specifically for monochrome output.

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