Nov 13, 2013 | Field Reports
One of the GREATEST joys photography has brought comes from the family affair. Many know about our son Jake and all the great stuff he’s doing in the industry like the articles in Dispatch and Plane & Pilot just this month. And I personally enjoy his product reviews like today’s, he does a great job covering all the angles. But I get a kick out of how he has mom with “her” Nikon V2 (don’t even try to get that away from her) shooting the “action” shots (she and that camera do a great job!). It truly is one of the hidden blessings of photography since all four of us (plus one very significant other, Katt) come together to tell the story through photography. Give it a try, get your kids involved, you will find that not only does your photography improve, so does your life!
Nov 12, 2013 | Field Reports
Click Here for Special!
Our friends at Think Tank Photo just announced an exciting Black Friday special that actually starts now! With this special offer you get a $50 rebate on their renowned rolling camera bags. And, should you order a roller plus one of their popular Urban Disguise shoulder bags you are eligible to receive a $100 rebate! And, to top this off you’ll receive free shipping not only on these items but on all Think Tank Photo gear!
To partake of this special holiday offer simply click here and you’ll be directed to Think Tank’s roller page. There you will find a link you can click to download the rebate form. Really easy!
Think Tank’s rolling camera bags are renowned for being the best made, most innovative rollers available. Each comes with easily configurable inserts, innovative security measures, and Think Tank’s “No Rhetoric Warranty.” The rollers are sized so as to make it easier for you to roll your valuable photography gear onto airlines as carry on, as opposed to having to check it.
Nov 7, 2013 | Field Reports
Yeap, 20 November, Lexar is bringing me in for a 3hr evening presentation about photography. Critters, landscapes, aviation, lenses, bodies, f/stops and a whole lot more. It’s free, I hope to see you there!!! Click on the banner for all the info.
Nov 7, 2013 | Field Reports
The new 58f1.4 AFS hit the desk yesterday and to say it’s impressive from the get go is an understatement! It’s a big sucker, feels great in the hands and looks sexy as hell on a body. It has a 72mm filter size with the whole lens being that diameter. It comes with a deep, scalloped shade just making the 58mm looks sexier. 
But what’s important is the image quality. I bounced around the house looking for subjects and I naturally turned the lens on my gorgeous wife, but she said she was having a bad hair day. So I can’t post those (I run into that a lot with my family). So then I turned the lens to the flowers, focusing on the pistol stamen (I don’t do flowers) to show just how shallow the DoF is and the lens, sharp. Oh ya, it’s sharp! I’ve had the 50f1.4 AFS since it was introduced, use it a lot. It’s also a very sharp lens but is physically smaller (and costs less) than the 58mm. The knock I’ve had about the 50mm though is its focusing speed. The 58mm is a tad faster than the 50mm, but focusing speed is still not lightning fast. I have a lot of shooting to do this weekend which I’m lookin forward to. This is a schweeeeet lens!
Nov 7, 2013 | Field Reports
The D610 is just a fun camera to use! And while fun is an important reason why we own our gear, there has to be that technical reason as well. It’s no secret I’m a huge fan on the D600 and the D610 is supposed to be the D600 with its issues resolved. Well, I’m of the opinion it’s a bit more than that. I have no insider info, just my experience shooting with the D610 this past week compared to my shooting with the D600 prior. It’s just a better experience with files just a tad sweeter. No, don’t have resolution charts or side by side comparisons, just the experience of looking at images giving me the belief the D610 does a tad better job of taking and producing images. Here’s a couple of examples that have me thinking this. This first one as it appears, is a sunset shot looking to the west with the sun below the horizon and the lights on in the hangar. I’m shooting with the 50f1.4AFS (being repl as of today with the 58f1.4AFS) and not having a tripod and being tired, raised the ISO to 800 and went click. Simple, clean results, just a tad nicer than the D600 (field smoke always makes for great colors!).
Went to the Houston Space Center and dragged the D610 around though I was shooting with the Coolpix A most of the time. Finally, at the end of the tour I pulled the D610 out and shot with it. I was looking for just a detail shot to zoom on in post to see what the D610 would deliver. Again, I was shooting at ISO 800 with the 18-35AFS handheld. You can see for yourself the 200% crop and what the D610 delivers. That’s simply a clean file with lots of detail.
I need the D610 for those times when I need to blend. The D4 is just not a “blend in” body but the D610 sure is! I have so much faith in it, I instantly put it to work on a project. At the end of the evening of the 40’s hangar party, after I’d taken the portraits, I was still looking for a way to get higher to shoot down on the festivities. That’s when I thought of “Betty’s Dream.” A couple of seconds later we were inside and through the hatch shooting. I took up the D610 / 18-35AFS and made the clicks real fast (I love the slightly faster FPS of the D610). I realize many would love to see the side by sides, charts and the rest but that’s just now how I go through a piece of gear. I take it in the field and use it where it will either fail or pass and in my book, the D610 more than passes. It delivers what I need to deliver to my clients and I feel it does it better than the D600.
And in case you can’t picture popping through the hatch of a B-25, here’s Jake going up for the shot after I got down. The trick is, DON’T pull on anything red inside the cockpit!
Nov 6, 2013 | Field Reports
It had been a GREAT day! By 8:30 we’d already put in seventeen hours and thousands of clicks, but that was the point of volunteering. There was a huge 40’s party in the Texas Flying Legends Museum hangar for the WWII vets and their family including a great 40’s band, dancers, Patton look alike, surrounded by the P-51D “Cripes A Mighty” and B-25 “Betty’s Dream.”. “Betty’s Dream” was partially pulled into the hangar and even a gorgeous LaSalle drove up delivering some of the reinactors who were guests, parking under its wing. We grabbed a quick bite to eat and than started to work all the activities. It was a target rich photographic opportunity. But being a control freak, I wanted more than just the grab shot under hangar lighting. Then it dawned on me … the Rapid Boxes!
photo courtesy Jake Peterson
The folks (all friends) were great and open to anything. So I asked the couple in the top image (who came in the LaSalle), Miles & Kim if they’d be up for their portraits being made with the car. I described to them briefly what I wanted to do and when they saw me point out of the hangar into the darkness, I got the strangest look. I just said, “trust me.” Jake ran to the truck, got the Rapid Box lighting kit duffle I had with us and we set up the lights. In literally just minutes, we had the Westcott Rapid Box Octa/ SB-910 / PocketWizard FlexTT5 and Westcott Strip Box / SB-910 / PocketWizard FlexTT5 on Manfrotto 5001B Nano Stands set up (both flashes connected to SD-9s all powered with Eneloop AA batteries). The speed in which we had it all set up even impressed the guests. It sure impressed me!
With the D610 / 18-35AFS in hand (I really like the D610!), I got Jake to stand in for the models, hit the test button on the PocketWizard, took my first shot, looked at the LCD and went to work. I was at f/8, 1/25, underexposing ambient light making the flashes, set at zero (using cs e4 makes this part easy), the main light. The Octa was the main light on the folks and pointed up a tad to slightly light the underneath of the wing of “Betty’s Dream.” The strip light as you can see was to the side and feathered to do a little fill on the folks and than light up the side of the LaSalle (reflections of the lights on the car were minimized by flash placement). No, this wasn’t enough light to really do “Hollywood” lighting, but that’s wasn’t the goal.
photo courtesy Jake Peterson
The “folks” are all dear friends, president and pilots of the Texas Flying Legends Museum. One is a seating congressman even. The very quick and impromptu “portrait studio” (which was up, used and down in less than ten minutes) was merely an extension of the night’s fun. Like I said, we’d all had already put in a full day. I had minutes with each couple before they went back to the guests. It’s a simple, clean shot capturing the memories of the evening. And if I didn’t have the Rapid Boxes with me, I would have never thought of or attempted such a shoot. A single off camera flash would have looked like crap. The Rapid Boxes produced gorgeous light very quickly making me a hero. Can’t ask more from your gear!
When it comes to working with the folks, this is how I did it. First, my beautiful bride would go get the couple so they were already happy by the time I got them. I told them I wanted them to pose for the period which meant body language you see with the gentleman holding the ladies elbow. I would take one click and than show them the LCD because there were standing in total darkness. I assumed the were wondering just what the heck the photo would look like. Once they saw the LCD, it was all a piece of cake. Ten minutes after we started set up, we were torn down and back at the party with the others. Personally, this kind of flash photography I can get into. It was quick, easy and great light. I simply can’t say enough about the Rapid Boxes. They earned their name and keep this evening!
Oh, and this last portrait, this is very special to us. We had the great fortune to spend three days with three Tuskegee Airman, and one in particular really took a shine to my wife. Alexander Jefferson pictured here was simply a hoot to get to know. I’d already spent the day with him, talking up a storm and telling me a ton of stories. When he got in front of my camera he said, “Moose, get my good side!” And when I asked the trio to squeeze in tighter, Alexander said, “sounds good to me!” He was great and it was an honor to get to know all three and able to call them friends. Amazing what photography has brought to our lives!
