Those of you who know me better will remember that an unfortunate car wreck rendered me without any camera equipment since May 6. I spent the whole summer playing with “phoneography” as my iPhone was my only camera.
The wreck hurt more than my physical being, it hurt my livelihood.
This might not seem like a big deal to most, but my camera is how I make my living – as a photojournalist and a portrait photographer. To be without a way to earn income was a real drag, but mostly it was stressful. As I battled with the insurance company, a previously contracted wedding date was looming near! Because my equipment although in good working order was older, I did not get a decent settlement to replace my camera, lens and flash. I was forced to finance part of it and because of the cost, had to make due with a less than desirable used lens. I just couldn’t see investing in equipment that was inferior to what I was using, so had to shell out bigger bucks for the new camera and flash!
I got my new Nikon D800 camera, SB910 flash and a used Tamaron lens just days before the wedding on August 3! Not much time to learn the new equipment, so I pretty much put it on auto ISO and white balance and shot away!
This was shot from a distance of about 4.5 feet and cropped to achieve the closeup!
This one was also shot from a longer distance; I’m in love with this shot!
The new gear (although much heavier than my old equipment) is AWESOME! The D800 shoots at 36 mega pixels and the flash is brilliant! Like I said, the lens is not the best and does not have macro capabilities or stabilizers. This made shooting closeups of the rings difficult. I had to shoot from several feet away and then crop, crop, crop the image to get the extreme closeups I was needing. Fortunately, the D800 could handle it. The weight was bit of a problem after six hours of non-stop shooting, and my arthritic hands really let me know about it before I was finished. Also, because of the size of the images, it takes me MUCH longer to edit, but I can deal with that! All in all, I’m very pleased with my equipment and am counting the days, if not my pennies until I can get better lenses!
The camera performed well with the flash and with natural light; with a ISO of 6400, it can handle most lighting situations.
This was taken at dusk outside with natural lighting, not too shabby.
When capturing reflection shots, a flash is your worst nightmare. The D800’s 6400 ISO capability takes away the worries of low lighting indoors.
The couple used sparklers for the send off. This was the shot I was most worried about with not being able to learn the equipment before hand. I took the sparkler shots on auto ISO and auto flash and just hoped for the best. It performed beautifully! I was able to light the couple and surrounding area without washing out the sparklers! Unfortunately, because of the high heat, everyone was spread out for fear of burns.
A BIG thanks to LEANNE COLE of Leanne Cole Photography for creating a mat of “sparkles” and creating this composite for me – and all the way from Australia! Gotta love modern technology!
Now, I’m waiting for the insurance company to pay our medical bills! Grrrrr!
