Back home, and hanging with the D3X

Writing this post sitting in Syracuse for a few days. Truth is, I haven't been back up here in the summer, well, ever, and I haven't been back in town much at all since I graduated in '03. 

But when Jess invited me, what was I going to do? Say no? Hellllll no. So here we are, back in the 'Cuse, then Sunday we head back to Boston for four weeks. That unto itself is kinda weird for me, as I haven't been home in June since summer '03, but this time I didn't exactly have a choice. 

Didn't have a choice? Yeah well let's back up a few steps and make a long story short. Monday night. Harrisburg. I'm working the plate. I got hit in the face with a bat (by accident). Fracture cheek (it's not as bad as it sounds, trust me), but I did get sent to the ER, then home until at least the end of this month. 

So what did I do yesterday a few hours after landing? Headed over to LensProToGo's new studio space in Concord of course. Paul, the grand poo-bah over there was kinda enough to let me run around his new space with Nikon's newest flagship, the $8k, 24.5 megapixel D3X. 

The space is still pretty empty, so I ended up with such exciting photos as this one:

(Look a bit funny?, Paul just got in the new set of Nikon PC-E lenses, and I was goofing around with the 24 (above) and 85 (below))



Needless to say, that camera really pumps out some sweet files (even if my computer did have a bit of a meltdown trying to process that many megapixels). 

More to come shortly, I'm going to be shooting a ton of personal projects here while I'm home, gotta fight off that boredom. 

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Cody & Jude

Last Saturday I had the chance to spend some time over at casa de MKD, shooting with Cody and Jude. In addition to a few shots with their crazy homemade ringlight, I got to play with their 47" Octabank (man I'm a sucker for toys). I'm usually not much of a fan of the soft light look, but I'm really trying to center my lighting based on who/what's in front of my lens - true subject driven light.

Well, Jude and Cody made it easy. They totally rocked the studio, and even humored me when I broke out my 14-24 and attempted pay homage to Platon.

Stay tuned this weekend for my return to landscape photography tomorrow, my first such outing with my shiny new D700.

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Aliens have landed!

Alien Bees that is. While my Vagabond II won't be here until tomorrow, the bulk of my new lighting kit just arrived and I had to post a blog real quick before I start playing some.

After last week's Chuck Hogan shoot, I decided I needed some more power, and that for all my projects the little Nikon flashes just weren't cutting it anymore. Don't get me wrong, I still love my small lights, but the idea here is to be imagination limited, not too limited. So essentially limitless.

What you see here is my new AB800, the beauty dish with the diffusion sock, and a set of 10, 20, 30 & 40 degree grids.

Wanna learn some more about this whole lighting thing? Funny you ask, Fed and I still have up to 3 spots left in our Jan. 24 workshop. Come hang out, we'll be geeking on this stuff all day.

Also, I've got a few fun shoots planned for this weekend with Mike and Rob, so check back Monday for some snaps.

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My New aStore

Just a quick post in between wedding edits (check back soon, I've got lots in the pipeline), to announce I started my own aStore at Amazon. So if you want to know what my favorite photo books are, what lenses I use, or are just a gear junkie like me, click on over and take a look.

I'll try and keep the store updated as I buy new stuff (so expect frequent updates, I've got an itchy PayPal finger), and I've added a permalink on my links section. (Look to the right, it's with all the other cool links, like my Facebook link).

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Friday Speedlinks

Lots to blog about today, as I've finally begun saving the cool links I stumble across each week on the Web, and a cool project/trip as well, but more on that a bit later.

• Let's start here with the behind-the-scenes Golf Digest video of a cover shoot with Annika Sorenstam.
  
• Next I'll send you here to a PopPhoto story about a photographer who shoots superheroes (I can't wait for the new Batman).
• Did you ever want to have your photos made into greeting cards that you could sell? Check out this site. It's not free, but it looks like it has potential.
• NAPP's Dave Cross has just posted this video review of the Ray Flash - a ring flash adapter for your hot shoe flash. It's not cheap, but in the ring flash world, it isn't expensive either.
  

And lastly, because I couldn't help myself, I got in the way-back machine for this McDonald's ad. You know you love it.

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YES! Good news!

My broken D300 is covered under warranty!

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A little ISO comparison

I'm not big on writing camera reviews or overly techie stuff, but we got rained out today, and I figured I'd do my own test. I shot both of the below photos at 1/125, F/5.6 and ISO 3200 with my 17-55 F/2.8 lens on both my cameras. I shot in RAW mode with my tripod and didn't do anything to convert the files at all. White balance was auto for both. Click on either image to see it larger. (D300 on top, D200 on the bottom.)

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First Date with D300

I took the new D300 out for a spin tonight to really see if I could put it through its paces and figure out some of the differences between it an my old D200. I've been using the D200 for a little over a year now, and while I wasn't upset with its performance, I was looking for a little more.

I'll also add that tonight's shoot didn't really stress some of the key differences in the cameras (the frame rate, the ISO performance (these were all ISO 200) etc. But I did shoot all of these images in 14-bit RAW mode (with my 17-55 2.8 lens) and processed them all in Lightroom.

It was a great sunset tonight, even if I did feel like the location was a bit lacking (no portfolio images, and I got nothing for my site tonight, but I did get to play with my new toy.) The learning curve isn't too too steep, but there are a lot of small differences that will total up to a significant difference.

After a few hours of use, my favorites are definitely the improved ergonomics of the vertical grip (the integrated multi-selector to change focus is sweeeeeeeeeet), the brighter, larger and more accurate LCD, the 14-bit mode and the autofocus.

I'll add that I don't have the new autofocus system quite mastered yet, as it's a completely new setup, but I do see its potential and think it will be an improvement, especially when I go back to shooting sports. Anyway, on to the images.






A 2.5 min. exposure.

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Boston Sea Rovers

(Warning, geek and gear heavy post below).

I dropped in on the Boston Sea Rovers annual show tonight at the invitation of Jamie, and got to play with some cool new Nikon toys. Mmmmm Nikon toys.

I met Bob Watts from Nikon Professional Service who had a few goodies with him including the exotic 200-400 VR and the D3 and D300. While playing with the D3/200-400 combo I was definitely thinking, "If I drop this, I could offer Bob my car and it still wouldn't be enough to cover the tab, I wonder if I would have to name my first born 'Nikon'."

Well, I didn't drop it, and Bob still hooked me up with some free Nikon goodies (I now have a Nikon flashlight, for example).

While I've gotten to play with the D3 before, I've never had my grubby little hands on D300 before tonight, and let me tell you, I was very impressed.

Here are some images right outta the camera on the D300 (resized for the Web) shot with the new 24-70 2.8 lens.

ISO 3200



ISO 6400



And just for kicks, the D3 at 25,400 (this is what 1600 on my D200 looks like).


I also got to play with the new, "so wide you can see around corners with it on the D3" 14-24 2.8. And WOW that is one sharp little piece of glass. (It was nowhere near as large as I expected it to be, nor was the 24-70 FWIW).

Anyway, it's late, I'm off to bed and I don't feel like blogging about my first ever memory card failure event from last night either.

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Wedneday Odds & Ends

Two weeks until spring training! I can't wait for baseball and I'm excited to hopefully shoot in Florida with Laurel and Aaron while I'm down there.

What else...shot some hoops last night, and I've got hockey scheduled for tonight. Hopefully it will be warmer than last week, when I swear it was warmer outside than in the rink.

Also, my new tripod came yesterday from B&H. I love B&H - besides the free shipping I get for being a NAPP member - they were the only place besides Amazon who carries the Slik tripod I wanted. It's full of carbon fiber goodness and I'll post a user report hopefully next week - Rob and I have a shoot planned for Saturday so I should get to test it out.

Why did I get a new one? My old one's legs were getting sticky/grimy and the alumiunum decidely non-carbon fiber legs were too heavy for someone who travels as much as I do. (And my tax return was burning a hole in my hot little pocket.) This new one also gets super low, and - AND, has cool spikey feet, which are sure to scratch your momma's floor.

Lastly, I know Valentine's Day was last week, but check out this link my sister dug up. Apparently she's been reading it for a year and didn't share. (Brat).

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What's in my bag?

Because so many of you have asked, I thought I'd do a cliche photo blog, "What's in my bag?" post. Click on the bag for a larger view with details.

Also, with spring training fast approaching, I got an e-mail today from major league umpire Rob Drake asking me to check out his new Web site and blog. So click here to take a look at what Rob's up to.

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The Moment It Clicks

See no evil, hear no evil, and speak no evil - brought to you by uber cousins Jake, Eve and Rachel. Thanks to Uncle Mike for the idea.



Tonight I picked up Joe McNally's new book, "The Moment It Clicks." I write this at 3;38 a.m. (don't ask), but I finished the entire book in one sitting, and...wow.

First off, for more "professional" reviews, check out the Strobist's take, and Scott Kelby's thoughts. Also, click here for Kelby's cool behind the scenes details on how he basically convinced McNally to write the book in the first place.

But what did I get from the book? First of all, it basically reads like my attention span - short and to the point. Each page is a new lesson, a new example, and a new nugget of learning. It's the kind of book I'll pick up in the future when I want something to thumb through and I'll notice something I didn't see before and spark my creative juices. It totally trumps this book that I got last year.

Basically it's the book I wish that book had been. McNally's book is longer, easier to read, more practical (you don't need $50k worth of gear for every shoot).

What did I get out of the book (this first time through)?

• Don't be afraid to stick a flash where the light is. Huh? You say. Meaning, stick it under a lampshade, aim it in the same direction as the sun, etc. same light, more control = better light.
• You want independent control of your fore and background light(s) - duh, right? I never thought about it that way though.
• And perhaps the best nugget - your photos have to speak for themselves, 99% of the time you won't be there to tell the viewer, "I was thinking this when I shot this."
  

And last but not least of my nearly 4 a.m. writings, my friend James (The) Fed(erico) has his new wedding site up here, so take a look if you're, you know, getting hitched and can't hire yours-truly because of my baseball job.

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A Weather Feature

Well, it snowed so much at today that we got out of school early (1:05 or so) and it then took me a half hour to travel the 1.5 miles (not a misprint, 1.5 miles=30 miles) to my house. One of my editors had asked for some weather featurey type shots, so off I went. I wasn't keen on getting my gear all wet, but I figured "D200 + snow = weatherproofing test?" sure, why not.

The above shot was taken after I saw this mother and her eight-year-old daughter waiting for a bus and had to go back for the shot. I drove by them, kicked myself, and said, "Go back for it," so I did. I hopped out of my car in time to catch the plow in the photo (the one I sent my editor was the next in this series, and didn't have the annoying white van in it.) Basically, I hopped out of the car, had the camera in high speed mode, waited for the plow, fired off 3 shots, crossed the street, got some names, and ran back to my car. Whew.

The camera (and my 17-55) were pretty wet by that point, but I had a towel in the car, and after I dried them off, they appeared to be good as new. Also worth noting - conditions like today's make me glad I put protective filters over my lenses, that way no snow, sleet or road salt sprayed from the plow could have gotten on my actual lens. I also used my lens shade, even though there wasn't going to be any flare, figuring the extra protection couldn't hurt (it didn't).

Anyway, that's all for now, more high school hoops tomorrow night.

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D300 (no, I didn't get one) and some other links

I opened my Google reader just now to find that Scott Kelby has posted the most comprehensive review I've seen yet of Nikon's new D300. For the full review, click here. Scott's review encompasses thousands of shots with the D300, including a beach shoot in Hawaii with Nikon uber-photographer Joe McNally. I came this close to shooting with Scott when he was in Boston a few months back, but we just missed each other, but I'm hoping to get a chance to shoot with him during spring training next year in Florida. For more on the D300, check out Photoshop guru Dave Cross's similar D200 vs. D300 post.

Other quicko links for Thursday:

• Rui at Lighting Mods gives some examples of using gels and white balance adjustments.
• The Digital Photography School provides another way to lose track of time on the Internet with 99 photographer's portfolios. Hey, where's the douglaslevyphotography.com link?
• Finally, high school classmate of mine (full disclosure and all) blogs about being the big man in the office.
  

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Ken Rockwell, You're a Fool

I don't do this often (ever?) because it's totally not an example of, "treating someone how you want to be treated," but I totally can't help myself here.

Ken Rockwell, you're a fool.

We'll leave off how you write of the excellent Nikon 17-55 2.8, "In some ways the cheaper 18-70 mm and 18-55 mm lenses do the same or more more and cost a lot less." Really Ken? They do a lot more? How? At 55mm the 18-55 has a maximum aperture of F/5.6. According to my math, that's four times less light than the 17-55 will let in at F/2.8 and 55mm. So...where's the more?

But we'll move on from there to today's update. Today, Ken wrote:

"D3 vs D300: In case you also are wondering, the D3 and D300 are 99% the same camera, as far as color and look are concerned. I'm seeing the same color and highlights from my D3 as D300, as Nikon promised, with the same color settings among cameras.

Also, as foretold by the users manuals and confirmed in person, the firmware is 99.5% the same. Everything works the same, with small exceptions of one or two features unique to each camera...

...Good news for D300 users is that the D3 isn't any sharper in JPG. Scuttlebutt is that people may need to shoot NEF to get optimum sharpness from the D3; too bad if true, because other cameras like the 5D give perfect sharpness direct in JPG."

So, what he's saying is, you're going to drop $5k on a camera (the D3) and shoot in 8-bit JPEG mode instead of 14-bit NEF (RAW) mode? By my math, that means Ken's advocating throwing away 43% of your image information by shooting JPEG instead of NEF. Now I'm not going to get into the whole RAW vs. JPEG debate, I'll leave that to those who know more, but this just makes zero sense to me. Also, consider this, from this excellent story on how to read histograms.

"8-bit device has 256 (2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x2)[shades of gray/color than can exist]. A 12-bit device has 4,096 and a 14-bit device has 16,384 states it can be in." Ken, that's a stunning difference.

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Of Love & Discounts

I think that at any time in business, but especially with new businesses, there's a temptation to giving into our friends when they ask for discounts/freebies. This is a mistake I have made, and I'm just as guilty as everyone of this, to this point. We love our friends, we want to keep our friends and make them happy. BUT. And here's the kicker - love will not pay for my new 17-55 2.8, or, metaphorically speaking, feed the kids.

Also, I should say right off that no one, not even family, gets freebies from me on photos (unless they're a gift, but that's different), but even family pays my costs. My list of those who will continue to get items at cost is itsy bitsy, and if you don't already know who you are, no, I will not add you to the list.

Why am I blogging about this? Because this is not a conversation I wish to have with every friend who thinks, "I love your work," means, "Your prints should cost me the same as they would on Snapfish." Because, well, I don't print with snapfish, I print with a high-quality professional print-house and especially in the print market I've found, you get what you pay for. Now, I do offer discounts from time to time, and those are available to everyone, but discounts do not equal free/at cost.

For more on this, check out a recent discussion thread on Flickr.

And for those of you who asked/wanted to know about my blind date last night? (First in two years (blind, not date that is)). Well, you'll just have to ask me later, because I'm just not going to blog about that kind of stuff.

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I just turned around and saw...

I just turned around from my workspace, sitting here plugging away, and just needed a photo. Click here for a larger version with explanations of what each box once held. Apparently my teddy bear now lives in a house of camera gear boxes.

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Some exciting new developments

I'm pleased to announce that I'm now offering matting and framing for my photos - just in time for the holidays. To start off I'm going to keep it simple and limit it to black, brown or silver frames with white matting - I may get more fancy in the future, but for now I think simple is the way to go. Anyway, the photos will be mounted on 100% acid free archival mounting board, framed behind non-glare acrylic.

What does that mean? That means my photos will last and last and last, and you'll be able to see them because your ugly green fluorescent lights won't reflect off my pretty photos. Click here for some more info, but pricing will vary dependent on print size.

I'm wicked excited though, maybe it's just because I love new things...like my Nikon 17-55 2.8 that I just picked up yesterday. I'm starting to do more events, and my wide angle (12-24) super awesome landscape lens just wasn't going to get it done, nor was my telephoto (70-200) tack sharp vibration reduced kickass sports lens. Sooooo, now I have pro-level glass from 10.5 to 200mm. This new lens replaces that old 18-70 lens that broke a month ago on me in Rochester when the zoom ring got stuck. It's a perfectly workable 18-21mm lens at the moment though, sometimes even 18-24 if you ask it real nice...

I did give some thought to waiting for the new 24-70 2.8 that's due out in mid-December because it's not a DX lens (DX lenses will only work on the smaller sensor Nikon cameras, basically, any Nikon digital SLR except for the brand new D3, which will retail at around $5k).

There was some consideration that Nikon may at some point release a full-frame (FX is what they call it) camera in the $2k range, much like Canon's 5D in which case I'd have only two lenses that would work with it, the 70-200 and my 50mm 1.8, I figured though, lenses retain their value, and better to make kickass images today with my D200 and than wait around for the 24-70 to become available (which, given Nikon's history, could be July).

The good news is I'm done buying lenses for the forseeable future, the bad news is, my bank account just started lobbing grenades at me...

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A little Friday inspiration

Just a little inspiration before I head out to shoot my good friends Jon & Vanessa in Cleveland Circle this afternoon. Click here to see what I mean. Also, in other exciting, exciting news, my new 80gb engraved Ipod just arrived. I only ordered it Tuesday! And it's here and synching as we speak. I'm very excited, as I've only had my itty bitty shuffle since my 2.5 year old 20gb black and white Ipod died this summer. I also did something I have never done before on Wednesday.

I went on a tour of Fenway Park. Yup. I'm willing to venture that this is not something many New Englanders do, as evidenced by the makeup of our tour group, which was mainly from out of state (with some from as far away as Ireland, England and Australia on the tour). The tour was a bit limited by the construction as they add more seats (see photo) and it was heavy on stuff I already knew ("This is the pole that Carlton Fisk hit..."), but it was fun nonetheless.

Now, at this point, you might be asking, "Why did you go on this tour?" Well, the answer is, my very good friend from college Lindsay e-mailed me a few days earlier, "Dougggg, I first realized I loved my boyfriend Mike at a Sox game this summer (Mike's from Worcester). And I'd love to give him a Fenway gift for Christmas, maybe a photo of our seats...can you help me?" Can I help you? Of course I can. As you can see by the photo (which at this writing she hasn't seen), I tried to put a little personal touch on his gift. What Sox fan wouldn't love a girlfriend who would commission original Red Sox art for them for Christmas?

Click on the photos for a larger view.

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Odds & Ends & NYC

A few things off the top today.

• I just joined the National Association of Photoshop Professionals. They'll hook me up with all kinds of sweet discounts (like at the Apple store and B&H Photo).
• Can you believe this? It seems Sony is using a photo from the 1960s to advertise for it's new A700 SLR.
  

I just got done processing some images from my weekend in NYC - I shot more than 1,000 photos in two and a half days. Thanks to Rich for putting up with me while I went a bit overboard with my new fisheye. Anyway, here are a few of my favorites. You can see more cityscapes, including some shots from NYC last year, at my site here.

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