Wish List

Just been looking at the Nikon 18-200mm classic carry around zoom and suddenly started thinking... hmmm what lenses could cover this focal range if I insisted upon more speed and therefore lower light shooting. So
here´s my wish list within the realms of possibility:

Tokina 11-16mm (around 450 pounds new)
Nikon 18-200mm (around 300 pounds used but for VR1)
Nikon 80-200mm F2.8   (around 400 pounds used for non-VR heavy version!)


So at the moment I have 28mm F2.8, 50mm F1.8, 90mm F2.8 and therefore if  I move more into interior design or buildings the Tokina seems a necessity. The 80-200mm would work well for theatre work in medium or large sized venues and possibly for street candid.

Studio session : 5 actors - one afternoon.

Just finished doing the photo-shoot of 5 actors primarily for portfolio head-shots. The entire shoot and setup took 8 hours in total, 5 hours were 1 hour for each person which in retrospect was too compacted. Next time I´d definitely give myself a break after 3 hours for two reasons. One, to check the shots were up to par and two, to refresh my energy and enthusiasm for the inevitable tiredness at the end of the session.

I learnt a few good things after the shoot. One was that changing lenses often leads to dirty shots which meant a lot more processing on Photoshop. Two, use of tripod with fast flash and a soft box isn´t necessary and for my style at least was restrictive. Next time I´m going to check shots during shoot, shoot hand-held for flexibility and MORE INTERESTING angles. Third, to take a rest and refresh myself.

Overall though it was a complete success although I have to confess without an assistant and someone to double check me it would have been a lot more difficult.

I also did a quick analysis on Adobe bridge to find out how many shots I did and at what settings. Here are my results based on largest number of shots ready to go out:

1) F-stop: F14 - F16
2) focal length 50mm followed by 90mm
3) 18-105mm lens and 50mm lens produced the best shots out of the ones picked to pass on.
NB 90mm wasn´t too far either but the first two produced around 25 percent more.
4) ISO 100

Studio portraits

Another project in the pipeline is a Studio session I´ve arranged with some of the actors of the last play that I shot. Luckily I have access to a fairly good home-studio from a fellow photographer friend of mine. This will give me a good opportunity to not only make some money but to learn more about studio lighting as really until now I´ve always been a "reportage" style photographer - whether it be doing theatres and events or even location portraits I´ve never considered myself a flash (or even un-natural light!) style of shooter. The hard bit so far seems to be co-ordinating a group of people to be in the same place and at the right times but I´ll persist and I´m sure all will be well...

Interiors

Been researching photography based on interiors as a Marketeer friend of mine has this idea of shooting interiors of 4 and 5 star hotels for their websites. Despite the technicalities of metering etc..I´m looking at what gear I may or may not need. It seems that I´m gonna be shooting at f8 or more to enable a reasonable DOF. This means two things, long exposures and tripods (possible monopod?). Second, lenses? I´m probably looking at around a 10mm lens in order to get nice "panoramics" of swimming pools, restaurants etc..and of course for the bedrooms themselves. Think I´ll research a little more the Tokina 11-16mm which Ken Rockwell recommends but more on that later. I may have to risk my 18-105mm (and make adjustments on Photoshop for the ineveitable barrel distortion!) and see where my limitations lie. If and when this project becomes a viable business I can then buy the tokina or similar and for now too I also have my 28mm f2.8 prime so we´ll see how these couple together. Of course I have no intention on sticking with the 18-105mm but for now it´ll have to suffice!

New Start...

I´ve been thinking and pulling my hair out and screaming and crying (well not literally!) about how and what to write here but you know what though... I´m not gonna even think about it - I´m just going to write from the heart, (diary style) about my thoughts and experiences with photography. No plan, no agenda just my everyday experiences and discoveries from new technology to my own "ups & downs" in the real world as I´m trying to become more than just a "good amateur" or "semi-professional" and turn my talents into a way of making a living.

Well anyways I guess a good place to start is with me and my photography history. I´m currently a Nikon D90 shooter who mainly shoots theatre photos and macro bugs plus anything else that grabs my eye´s attention. Equipment wise I am currently using :

-Nikon 18-105mm VR kit lense, a 28mm Nikon F2.8 prime, a Nikon 50mm F1.8 prime and my favourite the Tammy 90mm F2.8 macro. I also have an Olly E-PL1 to play with and a Nikon S6000 point&shoot.

-Nikon SB-600 Flash, Marumi Ring flash (for macro & portraits). Benro Monopod (theatre & macro) and extension tubes.

- Access to home studio with lighting and soft boxes etc.