Simple Click – Nik Sunrise
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Magnificence courtesy Mother nature, Sunrise courtesy of the room, finished photo courtesy Nik HDR Efex
Simple Clicks – Simple Beauty!
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Looking west
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Looking east, looking good!
Man Vs. Wild
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Keeping with tradition, my good friend Russell Brown & myself (along with Sharon, Jake & Tom) are on another of our pre-PSW adventures. For those of you who know Doc Brown, you know it is not, well, 100% normal. When it comes to Photoshop, he is brilliant. When it comes to being calm, well, that’s just not in his DNA. So our adventures are anything but quiet, in fact, quite the opposite. So now we’re out in the wilds of America and the first critter he sees, well, you can see his reaction. It’s going to be one heck of a ride!
The behind the scene joke to this photo is the amazement on his face is not for this pose, but when he heard I was shooting at ISO 200 at f1.4 at 1/8 handheld, he was just amazed I was getting a sharp image.
Photo captured by D3s, 24f1.4AFS on Lexar UDMA digital film
Simple Click – Fall Season
Nik’s HDR Efex Pro
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Nik Software has announced their HDR Efex Pro. While you won’t be able to buy it until October, I wanted to gloat that I’ve got it now and it rocks! What you see here is a real simple handheld, three image HDR of the setting sun over the Sierra. No way you can get the sun, shadow and clouds in one capture so HDR was required. What makes Nik’s HDR a stand out is they use the same basic UI as in Silver Efex Pro, you have a whole bunch of previews on the left. You look for the one you like, click and bang, you’ve got it. And if that’s not enough, you have more sliders, U Point controls then in the cockpit of a 747 to fine tune your selection. What you see here is the Realistic preset and it worked really, really well. Once I have a copy of the program that I can share, I will create a how to video because this is a must. Oh yeah, it runs 64bit! Bitchin!!!
Photo captured by D3x, 18AF on Lexar UDMA digital film
The New Lens Dilemma
It is always very interesting to me to see the photographic public’s reaction to the announcement of new gear. This one in particularly intrigues me because unlike most, there are some really great questions coming out and they all center on, “Which one to buy?” I have had some absolutely delightful conversations with photographers as they mentally tackle the pros and cons of each lens and how it might or might not fit into their photography needs. To me, that’s just damn cool. The other main questions I’ve been receiving is, “Why do you want the 24-120 and not the 85f1.4?” I want them both but business wise, I only need the 24-120, here’s my thinking why.
The 24-120 would be (in my mind only since I’ve not shot with it) a great lens for my growing air to air photography. I learned the hard way that changing lenses while doing an air to air shoot is a sure way to have every particular known to man to soon be on your CCD. At the moment, I use either the 24-70 or 70-200 and in looking at my images, I find a lot of time I’m shooting between 60-110 in focal length (great thing about metadata). So I’m thinking that the 24-120 might, might just be the ticket for me in this shooting situation. The former 24-120 wasn’t a bad lens and with this being a total new element design and what Nikon has been producing that last few years, I’m thinking this lens will easily replace the 24-70. If all this mental hijinx comes true only time will tell.
Now the 84f1.4, oh yeah baby, I want that lens. I would fit in nicely with the 24f1.4 and 50f1.4 and with the addition of the 85f1.4, I would have three fast lenses. But to what end for my photography? While I do take portraits, my particular style is with either wider or longer lenses than 85mm. I have the gorgeous 105VR, a wickedly sharp lens and a great portrait lens yet the number of times I’ve used it like that I can count on my hand. So while I think the 85f1.4 is really sexy and I know in my gut will be incredibly sharp, I simply can’t justify with images the capitol outlay to have it sit on my shelf.
And your own photography, which lens will fit in for you? Answering that question can be a challenge made easier or more difficult by your years behind the lens. Photographers are suckers for new gear no matter how long you’ve been shooting (and manufactures know this!) because we are by nature gear heads. If the opportunity affords it, try before you buy, that always leads to the best results. The one thing I want to warn you against in this day and age are basing your purchase on reviews you read. Look at your images, look at your goals, be honest and figure out what problems you’ve been facing a lot in your photography and then determine what might be the best solution for that problem. In the conversations I’ve had with folks this week, the one answer to solving problems that’s been the most common was not the purchase of a new lens, but time behind the lenses they already own. There is nothing wrong with that answer and like I remind some, spending money not on new gear but on time behind the camera is always a great investment in your photography!