The right camera for weddings

I'm shooting several weddings this year and I thought I should update my equipment a bit in order to capture those really low light church situations etc. Recently I purchased a Nikon D700 to enhance my capabilities and I am completely blown away by what this camera can do. This image was taken at 6400 ISO and you can hardly notice the grain.

Gymnastics and 50,000 shutter releases

The Nikon D80 is rated for 50,000 shutter releases. That means after 50 thousand clicks of the shutter there is a chance that it will start to fail. Well mine started to fail yesterday during the gymnastics competition and I was not happy about it. I was still able to capture about 1000 good images, but the thing that struck me was how quickly this camera started to fail on me. I have only had this camera for 14 months (conveniently after the warranty is up of course.) I guess Nikon will be giving my camera a tuneup soon. This also gives me a great opportunity to upgrade to the D300.

A couple days per year

Couple Days Per Year

These trees bloom once per year and it only lasts a couple of days, but the smell and the beauty make it worth the wait.

By the way, my camera is back and I am so very happy. It's been 5 weeks without and I feel like it's been a way longer than that. I missed the way the camera felt in my hands and the way I see things through the view finder. I missed the sound of the shutter and the looks on people as I take their picture. I missed the clarity of the shots, having full control of the image, and the softness of the depth of field.

Ritz camera really took care of my camera for me. I had a dead pixel and they replaced the sensor. Thanks to the Ritz camera repair center for taking care of my D80.

Lens: 50mm

Portraits Are Fun

Fun with Portraits

The art of portrait photography includes making your subject feel comfortable. I like these type of shots because it gets the subject to open up a bit and relax.
Camera: Nikon D80
Exposure: 0.008 sec (1/125)
Aperture: f/4
Focal Length: 70 mm
ISO Speed: 100

Everyday Sticks

Everyday Sticks

I asked the shop keeper if I could take a photo of these hockey sticks, and his first reaction was to say "yes." He then asked the next obvious question to him which was "why." I said that I liked the way that they line up and thought it would make a great shot. He thought it was boring because he sees them every day, but I saw them as a photo opportunity. One man's everyday object is another man's photo op. I borrowed a friend's Canon EOS Digital Rebel to take this shot. It seems in my Nikon's absence all I have been using is Canon.
Focal Length: 50mm
ISO: 1600
Aperture: F 2.5
Shutter: 1/200 sec

Camera In the Shop

I feel like a part of me is missing because my camera is in the shop. My relatively new (4 months old) Nikon D80 needs a sensor replacement. In the mean time, my backup camera is a Canon Powershot SD750.

I will be focusing on framing technique for the next few weeks since the capabilities of this camera are limited. Stay tuned for Fun with Point-and-shoot!

Toronto Alternative

What do you do when your goal was to go to Toronto and take amazing photos of a beautiful city, but it was too cold windy and late to make the truck down town? You order a caramel Macchiato at Starbucks and take some photos of light fixtures. I've been admiring these light fixtures for quite some time and they appear in just about every Starbucks I have been in. The company that manufactures these things must be making a fortune!

One of these days I will return to the great city of Toronto for a photo taking extravaganza (but maybe when it's a lot warmer.) I took one of my best photographs in Toronto about 14 years ago. Two construction workers were fixing a light post. The framing of the workers, the buzzing traffic, the people walking by, and the colors all made the shot perfect. I took it with my Nikon 5005 film camera about 14 years ago and was the shot that made me really love photography. Until next time Toronto.

Always carry your camera

Rainy Dawn

One of the first things I learned about photography was to always carry your camera. Today I was rewarded with this shoot at the Warren Community center in Warren Michigan. This massive sculpture bears the signature of David Barr and it is called Dawn. Without knowing it, I have already seen David's striking work in many locations including Hart Plaza in Detroit and the Flint Bishop Airport. This sculpture caught my attention right away and forced me to end my phone call to take the shots. The rain was heavy at times and I didn't expect to have a photo opportunity. This shot was taken with my 18 to 55mm Nikkor Lense at 23mm. The ISO was 100 at f4 with 1/800 exposure time since I was looking directly into the clouds.

Let the photo assignment begin!

You are witnessing the birth of a large assignment. A photo assignment with the goal of becoming a better photographer. Every day I will post a photo taken within the week along with a brief description of how the photo was taken and other aspects of the situation as the photo opportunity came to be.

My gear:
Nikon D80 - A great entry level digital camera with amazing features for the price
Quantaray 70-210mm f4.5-5.6 lens - By far my favorite lens if the light is right.
Nikkor 50mm f1.8 - A necessity for taking gymnastics photos in low light conditions.
Nikkor 18-55mm f3.5-5.6 - Standard lens that came with my camera and great for getting those wide angle shots.

And so the assignment begins:

Purple Tunnel

Calling this shot purple tunnel is a bit inaccurate because the tunnel changes colors continuously. I found this location while traveling through the Detroit Metro Airport from terminal A to Terminal C. The sights and sounds of this tunnel are intended to make you forget you are underground and give a peaceful feeling of tranquility. I looked a bit out of place and got many stares as I stood with my camera, but the shots taken were worth it. I used the 50mm lense with F6.3 and and ISO of 400. Wishing I had a tripod, because I could have used a lower ISO. I chose shutter priority on this shot in order to control the speed of the shutter at 1/25.

I welcome your comments and suggestions for improvement.

Thanks for joining me on this journey to become a better photographer.