Nikkor AF-S 50mm f/1.8G versus f/1.4G Smack Down

Another good review by DigitalRevTV based in Hong Kong. Surprisingly the quality vote goes to the f/1.8. But, as they say, the extra f-stop is great for low light which is what I got the f/1.4 version for.

Funny, the british schooled presenter of the series trys to talk as if he's from Hong Kong, but comes off as if he's from Singapore. OK, OK, I know, a detail, but I lived a long time in Hong Kong, and no one says "la"....

Enjoy

Nikon 50mm f/1.8G AF-S vs 50mm f/1.8D

A pretty good review from DigitalRevTV of the "old" Nikkor 50mm f/1.8D and then "new" AF-S Nikkor 50mm f/1.8G.  I recently sold my Nikkor f/1.8D which I had from my film days for an AF-S Nikkor 50mm f/1.4G.  I like the f/1.4G because it works so well in low light settings and has amazing bokeh.  Bottomline, unless you are hard core, both the f/1.4 and the f/1.8 are great lens.  Of course, the f/1.4 will set you back about another $200+.  Either way ALL photographers should have a 50mm in their kit.

Backup Workflow – Do It or Else

As a photographer nothing is more important than your digital image files.  If you are an amateur or hobbyist they represent your “moments in time”, or your hobby output.  If you are an advance amateur or pro, they are the output of your passion or your livelihood.  Bottomline, you can’t afford to lose them.  That’s why it’s uber important to have a solid backup workflow.

What do I mean by a backup workflow?  To me it means 2 things:

·         Where do you maintain your images once they come off your camera?

·         What process do you follow to store your digital images and back them up?

First, I’m going to assume you WANT to back up your images.  If not, then all I can tell you is; you should.  Can you imagine losing photos of your children, your kid’s prom, the wedding job you did, your portrait session, etc. etc.  Bottomline, keeping your image files only on your computer is a disaster waiting to happen.  Don’t let it happen to you because a good backup plan is easy and costs very little money.

Here’s my workflow.  First, and this may sound strange to some but I don’t keep my images on my computer’s hard drive.  Instead, I keep them on an external hard drive that is always attached to my main computer.  That way if I ever need to take my entire portfolio to another location or another computer it’s available.  I use a Western Digital My Book Essential  External Hard Drive at 2TB.  I simply attach the HD through a USB plug and plug in the power.  My Windows 7 computer recognizes the external HD every time I turn it on.  You can pick these hard drives up for less than $150.

I upgraded this recently from a 1TB which was getting full. 

And now the important part, and something any serious photographer should do.  I backup my external hard drive and store it in a different location.  I simply use another WD My Book and plug it into my computer.  Than at least weekly I backup the images from my main WD hard drive.  I simply use Microsoft’s free SynchToy to handle the backup.  I created a synch pair, set it to “echo” and let it go.  When I’m done with my work, I take the backup hard drive and store it separately.  Paranoid, maybe, but I’ve talked to others that do more than this.

I now have a backup of all my images in case my main external hard drive fails, or is stolen.  At worse I have images up to the date of my last backup.

Here’s my workflow:

·         I create a new folder in my primary image directory on the main WD hard drive.  The folder naming convention is the YEAR,MO, DAY – Name of shoot

·         I copy all images from my camera’s card into the folder.  I do not hook the camera to the computer; I use the computer’s card reader,

·         I use Nikon’s ViewNX and rename all my images to reference the shoot or subject.  I’m fairly generic to the shoot versus the specific image,

·         I use Nikon’s ViewNX to add my EXIM data (I have a script which includes my copyright data, my name, contact info and also tags

·         I open Adobe Lightroom 3 and synch folders to bring in the new images

·         After I process any images (especially if it’s a large number of images, or it’s that time of the week) I attach the backup hard drive and using SynchToy back up my images. 

Note, the one reason I use a backup application versus simply dragging and dropping is because I want the backup HD to be an exact uncompressed copy.

This has become standard operating procedure to me.  There are many other ways to do it much faster or to do exactly what I am doing with other tools, software, etc.  Also, there are many external hard drive options.  Bottomline, the key is to backup your images!!

One additional comment.  You can consider a free or paid “cloud” based service.  This gives you more flexibility, but you need an internet connection and you are relying on the cloud provider.  I’m sure over time this will become more reliable, but for now I’m sticking with what works for me.  Don’t wait, go out and do it now.  Please, you can thank me later.

Big Car Service Center Model Shoot

I recently participated in an interesting photo shoot organized by a local photographer thru a Flickr Group called Indianapolis Strobist. This group came about as a result of the Joe McNally / David Hobbie Flash Bus Tour event that took place in Indianapolis this spring. This photoshoot was organized by Paul D’Andrea, a local photog that I’ve known for about 3 years.

Paul arranged for a group of 6 photographers to meet at the Big Car Service Center. The facility is a “retired” Firestone car repair shop being converted into an arts colony / gathering place for all types of art related events. The location is perfect for a grunge / abandoned industrial photo backdrop. Paul hired 3 local models, all excellent. We paired up (I paired up with Stacy), selected a model and went on our way. 

Amanda (Model Mayhem ID #1025679) agreed to team-up with me and Stacy. Amanda came ultra prepared with multiple changes of clothing for different looks, and even a wig. She was skilled so it allowed us to focus on position & lighting.

Because I wasn’t sure how much power would be available at the facility I brought portable flash units. My trusty Nikon SB-600 Speedlights. I used a LumiQuest SoftBox III on each. Both flash units were set to manual and triggered by Elinchrom EL-Skyport universal receivers. Both mounted on generic light stands. This is my typical portable light setup since it’s easy to set up and portable. Although the LumiQuest’s are called softboxes, I think they really act more like large directional diffusers.

The way we operated was to have one photog man the flash units and adjust the power settings and move them around as needed while the other shot. I have 2 Elinchrom Skyport triggers so it was easy for me and Stacy to work seamlessly. We started off putting our model in-front of a large electrical panel, and later in a corner between some industrial grade shelving. Because we got set up first a couple of the other photographers (Ashley & Faith) joined in for a look and a shoot.

I had my camera set to M mode, 400 ISO, 1/125-250 shutter speed & f/5.6-6.3. In all but a few shots I used a Nikkor AFS 24-70mm f/2.8 G ED lens (The Nikkor). Note, 1/250 is the max synch speed I have set for the camera / flash setup. I could use high speed synch, but for this type of work it is not needed. 

One addition was the use of colored gels on one of the flash units for part of the shoot. Red & green turned out to bring in the right mood.

After about an hour with this setup, I switched to the “big room”, mainly because it was getting so hot in the electrical / storage room. There Paul had set up a big piece of peg board. I also used an Elinchrom D-Lite 4it 400w with Portalite soft-box mounted as my key light. I had the key light set head high right from the shooter. I also mounted an SB-600 setup behind the peg board to highlight the holes. Finally another SB-600 setup was moved around the model to change the shadowing. Amanda had changed up her clothes and put on a wig which was almost like having 2 models in one!

One other thing I experimented in this setup was to put a flash unit directly behind the model. The idea was to have the flash fire directly into the camera. I enjoy playing with this sunburst effect.

Overall, we were there or about 3 hours. Part of the time I spent watching the other photographers in my group shoot.

A few after-shoot thoughts and comments:

• The models we hired (Diablo, Bovary & Amanda) were great. They were skilled and completely into the shoot. They were easy to direct and participated in setting the correct mood of the image. I can’t stress enough how important it is to make sure your models know in advance what is expected and that they share your concepts.
• If you are in a grungy / sweaty / dirty environment, bring a towel. I did this time and used it to put my equipment on it versus right on the concrete floor, and to wipe my face. It was sweaty.
• Experiment and try different light settings and gels. Some of my favorite shots were with the gels and unusual lighting locations.
• Watch other photographers shoot. It’s interesting to see how others view a scene and what they create. It also give you a break.
• Plan your shoot. Bring the right kit. It wasn’t as much of an issue on this shoot since we actually parked our cars right next to (and inside) the facility, and multiple photographers meant we would have just about everything.
• Post your images for others to see. We use a Flickr group for these shoots and it was very interesting to see what others captured and processed.
• The Nikon SB-600 flash unit is a good basic unit, but getting a bit dated. 

We’re planning another model shoot next up. This time in another building and in the surrounding alleys.

AF-S DX Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR II Uberness

I recently purchased a new (ok, refurbished) Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VRII.  For those of you that are Nikon centric like me it may come as a surprise I didn’t buy one earlier.  Honestly, now that I have one, I don’t know either.  This is now my official “walking around” lens.

Until I purchased the 18-200mm lens I used an AF-S Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8G lens as my main lens.  Don’t get me wrong, the 24-70mm is a beast, but in a DX format 24mm is not quite wide enough for my needs and 70mm too short.  An amazing lens, but not an everyday lens.  Also, for general use the f/2.8 maximum aperture isn’t always critical.  Therefore I often used my AF-S Nikkor 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6G ED lens when I wanted a general purpose lens mounted.

Guess what, my 18-135mm can now be sold, as it won’t see much use.  

Here’s my verdict after several casual photoshoots.  The Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VRII is a great lens.  18mm is a solid wide angle, and 200mm is a perfect maximum zoom length for most shooters.  On a DX sensor this equates to 27-300mm.  Coupled with vibration reduction you now have maximum flexibility in one lens.  A perfect vacation lens since this is the only one you will need to tote.  It can cover most landscapes, portraits to zoom work.  If you are looking for perfection in each type of genre then this lens is too general, but if you are looking for multipurpose, this is your boy.  Although I rarely do low light work without a tripod (even with a 2.8 lens), you can do moderate low light work with this lens because of the VR.

There are plenty of reviews online that do a much better job of technically describing the lens than I could, so I’ll not recreate the wheel.  As example:

Ken Rockwell Review, or

Bython Review, or

Photocrati Field Test

 However, I want to share a few observations on this great lens.  They are: 

·         The zoom ring is a bit small and located in the wrong place from what I’m used to.  If you use an 18-135mm or 18-70mm kit lens or even a pro lens like the 24-70mm f/2.8 you will immediately notice the difference.  The zoom ring on the 18-200 is near the front of the lens and is only ½ inch wide.  The first few times I used the lens I grabbed the manual focus ring by mistake.  I had to actually stop and look the first few times.  On the other kit lenses mentioned the zoom ring is quite large and with the 24-70mm it’s at the back of the lens.  I’m SURE I’ll get used to it.

·         The lens is very light.   Don’t kid yourself; this is a benefit if you are toting this around all day or a photo-walk.  On the other hand the typical f/2.8 lens like the 24-70mm weighs a ton.  Even with the light weight this is a solid piece of kit.

·         It comes with Nikon’s Silent Wave Motor (SWM) driven focus.  The focus is fast, smooth and very quiet.

·         The zoom ring provides sufficient resistance so zooming is precise and smooth, but not too tight.

·         The VRII version comes with a zoom lock switch set at 18mm.  This is handy since I understand the lens zoom creeps around 135mm.  This isn’t a problem for me because I normally don’t shoot straight up or straight down, but it’s handy.

·         The price is manageable and a refurb can be picked up for less than $700.  You can buy them online for a bit less.

·         There is the standard M/A or M autofocus which is handy for fine tuning or if you need to jump to manual focus on the fly.  I use this for night photography.

·         VR is very useful especially when you are in low lighting.  However, I’m not going to kid myself.  When I do after dark work I break out my f/2.8 or f/1.4 glass.

·         Normal & Active autofocus is available and is surprisingly handy if you are trying to focus on something moving quickly, or if you are moving.

·         A focal length indicator window with both feet and meters (for my international friends) units of measure.  This is handy for night time shooting when you can’t easily autofocus.

·         The lens looks good mounted on your camera.  It looks like a pro lens.  I know this is petty, but sometimes style counts….

·         The lens works on all Nikon digital bodies.  However, it should be noted this is classified as a DX lens.

·         To repeat what I said before, a high quality, general purpose multiuse lens.  My new everyday lens.

If you are a Nikon shooter and want something upgraded from a kit lens, give the Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6G VRII a serious look.   I don’t think you will be disappointed.

Naptown Roller Girls Shoot

I had a great time shooting at the Naptown Roller Girls’ 2011 annual end of season party here in Indianapolis.  The Roller Girls, members of the Women’s Flat Track Derby Association, are composed of the Tornado Sirens, the Warning Belles, and The Third Alarm play at the Pepsi Coliseum at the Indiana State Fairgrounds.  They regularly draw 5,000 or so fans.  Check them out at: http://naptownrollergirls.com/ 

Anyway, back to the shoot.  I was invited to be the photog at the Roller Girls’ because I am such an uber photographer, no actually; because I am cheap….this was a volunteer gig.  I did it last year as a second shooter, but this year was solo.  Since I shot the same location as last year I had a good idea what kit I needed to bring and how much light I would have to play with.  Also, I knew I was going to be able to pretty much do anything I wanted and shoot the Girls both in a portrait setting and photo journalism style.  What I learned from last year is that these gals are not uncomfortable around the camera and have no problems having their picture taken. 

I planned for the 2 types of shooting setups separately.  

For the Portraits

The theme for the party was prom night so the organizers had set up a balloon arch for me to use with the portrait shots.  For this I used a friend’s Elinchrom D-Lite 4 iT 400W strobe with a Portalite Softbox.  The nice thing about the Elinchrom lighting is they have an Elinchrom EL-Skyport Receiver built in so it worked great for my Elinchrom Skyport transmitter.  These are considered “starter” type lighting units, but they are perfect for most uses, especially this shoot because they are low weight, powerful, and easy to set up.  I had toyed with using 2 D-Lite units or possibly adding a couple of flash units for fill lighting or more dramatic shadowing, but that was going to be overkill for my purpose.  I simply wanted good, even lighting. 

For the even lighting I simply placed the D-Light at about 7 feet high 14 feet back from the arch, with the Softbox angled down slightly.  I simply stood right under the Softbox and shot away.  This was my standard setup all night.  I used a Nikon D300s with a Nikkor AF-S 24-70mm f/2.8 G ED lens for all the portrait work.  I shot in Manual mode, 1/250 shutter speed, f/6.3, ISO 500.   This setup worked great although the shots were a bit on the dark side, but I preferred that versus a bit too bright.

Another thing I had to work with was that the facility was very dark and VERY hot.  Although I didn’t have to worry at all about mixed lighting I did have to worry about blown out marks on the subject’s faces because everyone was pretty sweaty.  After a few practice shots working on the darker side of the histogram tended to eliminate most of the shine.

Walk Around Shots

For most of shots during the awards ceremony and throughout the event was either with my Nikon D300s with the 24-70mm f/2.8 lens or with my other Nikon body, but with a AF-S Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 G.  This is a VERY bright lens and gave me lots of flexibility.  As I mentioned earlier it was pretty dark, so I used a Nikon SB-600 flash on both cameras.  I used the camera body with the 50mm most in these situations as I could manually zoom by moving back and forth…get it, manually zoom!  Also and please don’t hate me, but I shot in P mode.  I know I don’t deserve to call myself a photographer, but I just didn’t want to mess with the settings, and I just wanted to shoot.

The entire evening was a photo rich environment with the gals and guys in there prom outfits and makeup.  I ended up taking about 800 shots and finished with about 350 that I post processed and uploaded for the Roller Girls.  Post processing consisted almost completely of simply cropping and slightly goosing the exposure by ¼ stop, and bring in a bit of fill light in a few.  Pretty quick processing.

Some take-aways from the night 

·         If at all possible scout your location in advance.  I was prepared for a dark, large space with industrial brick walls so I knew what I was going to work with.

·         If you are bringing studio lighting make sure you know where the outlets are in advance or bring several extension cords or a long lasting battery pack

·         Bring a towel.  I didn’t bring one and regretted it.  I was sweating like a pig a good portion of the night and dripped onto my equipment.  I went through tons of paper napkins.

·         Bring a small table or in my case a set of plastic sawhorses and a small board.  It was perfect for setting my kit up near the portrait set.  It would have been a pain to have to put everything on the concrete floor.

·         Bring a flashlight if you are unaware of the location.  Yes I should have brought one, and no I didn’t.  I could have used it.

·         Bring gaffers or duct tape.  I did, and I used it.  I used it to tape down the extension cord, repair the balloon arch, etc. 

·         I’ve said this in other posts, but plan your shoot.  Even though I planned out what kit I wanted to bring I ended up bringing a background stand and a few backgrounds that I didn’t need.  And the stupid thing is that I knew I wasn’t going to use them.

·         If you are going to shoot with flash, bring lots of batteries.  I have several sets of Sanyo eneloop rechargeable batteries.  I used them all.

·         Recharge everything in advance.  Recharge your camera and your flash batteries.  Also, I brought a spare battery for my Elinchrom EL-Skyport transmitter, and even charged my receivers although I didn’t need them

·         Agree in advance how the images can be used and how your client wants the images delivered. 

A great time shooting the Girls

B2 Bomber Flyover

Ok, so this isn't a typical blog / Flickr quality photo that I would normally post, but this one's for fun.  Last weekend was the 100th running of the Indianapolis 500.  I live just north of town, and it happens my house is directly on the flight path of aircraft that participate in the opening ceremonies of all events at the 500.  I was outside my house on Memorial Day and happened to hear something strange.  I looked up, and guess what, a B2 Bomber was bearing down on my house.  You'll note the corner of the image is the corner of my roof.

I stepped inside and picked up my trusty Nikon and shot about 25 shots while it passing by lazily.  I swear it was so low you could see the markings.  Man, that thing was super quiet and coming straight on almost impossible to see.  Very cool.

Lesson for the day.  Keep you camera on P mode between shoots, so it's ready to rock and roll.  Not every photo needs to be of uber quality if all you're trying to do is capture the moment.

So Long SEBImages, Hello BrokawImages

Silly me, I let my sebimages domain expire and for some strange reason I couldn't renew it.  Instead of fighting the man I registered BrokawImages.  So welcome to BrokawImages.  Same guy, same photo advise and ramblings.

Enjoy!