Thursday, April 30, 2009

Jasmine....

Saturday, April 25, 2009

Bruges Belgium

As some of you know, I have done some extensive traveling in Europe. There are unlimited photo opportunities in just about any European city but my favorite by far is Bruges, Belgium. This Venice-like city has interesting subjects at every turn. I highly recommend a visit to Bruges as a photo excursion. Just make sure you leave room for me!

Saturday, April 18, 2009

Yesterday's wedding

So, I had the pleasure of photographing the wedding of Jennifer and David Wilkins yesterday. What a gorgeous day! And, a beautiful and fun group of people. It was a long night but I loved every minute of it. I am slowly going through the nearly 1300 images and will post a few here in coming days.
Thanks, again Jen and Dave!
On a side note, the Tamron 17-50 continued to give me communication issues yesterday. Not only would the focus sometimes quit, but now it gives me intermittent aperature errors. I am not happy. I know it's not a Nikon but is it asking too much for a $400+ lens to just work??? It's a shame really....The IQ of that lens is incredible....again, when it works.

Monday, April 13, 2009

Tokina 12-24 f4 Play

So, I've been out and about with the new superwide Tokina 12-24 and I love the perspective it allows me to shoot. I've always been a wide angle shooter and at 12mm I can now play in much tighter spaces. I had read that the lens was a tad soft at f4 and it is noticeable at the corners, especially at 12mm. However, the lens sharpens nicely at 5.6. I likely won't be shooting much at f4 anyway. The purpose of this lens was to give me a wider field of view, and to give me a little backup coverage for weddings. The 24mm gives me that and weddings will be shot at f8-f10 with a flash anyway....It's not flawless, but at $399 it is a very smart buy for me.

Thursday, April 9, 2009

Another wedding and a new lens !

I went ahead and ordered a Tokina 12-24 f4 from Adorama yesterday. I really took my time with the choice and am excited to have this addition to my camera bag. The final push for me was the sudden drop in price from $489 to $399. I jumped...

Then, I met with a nervous bride last evening. She had not yet chosen a photographer and her wedding is in nine days. I suppose I was her last option but I don't mind. I got the booking....

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Dreaming of new lenses....

So I'm mulling over buying some new glass to add for my wedding gigs and upcoming June West coast photo adventure. On my mind are super-wides and primes. In particular, I 'm looking at the Tokinas 11-16 f2.8 and 12-24 f4. I really like the speed of f2.8 but the 11-16 focal range is a tad limiting. I like the 12-24 because it overlaps (partially) my 17-50, but the f4 is limiting as well. On the flip side, a $200 Nikon 35 f1.8 is very appealing as a backup for weddings..... If only I could buy all of them!! I'll play it over another day or so and then make my move....

Sunday, April 5, 2009

April Wilkinson


Here's one from today's shoot....

Saturday, April 4, 2009

Nikon D200 Body On-Sale at Bestbuy.com

Looks like Bestbuy is offering the Nikon D200 for $599 yet again! This price is available only online but you can place the order for pickup and run down to grab it.
Happy shooting!

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Off-Brand Lenses for use with Nikon D300

I recently purchased two new, off-brand, lenses for use with my Nikon D300. I needed something faster and better built than kit lenses, especially now that I am photographing so many weddings and events. My choices were a Tamron 17-50mm 2.8 for a standard zoom and a Sigma 50-150mm 2.8 for the tele-zoom. I did a lot of research prior to making the decisions and am very happy with the image quality of both lenses, even at f2.8. The Tamron AF does hunt a little in low light but more often than not it finds its mark and is tack sharp! The Sigma is just as sharp and does not seem to have any difficulty finding focus.

I mulled over the Nikon versus off-brand issue for far too long and hope this post helps others make a quicker decision to go off-brand. If you have the cash then, by all means, buy the Nikon lenses. The Tamron was a mere $400 and the Sigma $675. Compared to Nikon’s equivalents at $1400 and $1800, Tamron and Sigma were easy choices for me.

Savannah in B&W


The Beginning

This is my first post of what I hope will be an informative and fun blog. Stay tuned for samples of my work and from the work of other photographers. I will also be including links to the portfolios of other artists who impress me, as well as my opinions and insights from the world of professional photography.