Sansation

This is my wife’s cousin, Katelynn. I was asked to photograph her for prom. This is my favorite photo of all of them.

Nikon D80  1/200 sec.@f/8  66mm  ISO400

The new Adobe CS3 icons are, in my opinion, very bland. I was excited to see them when they were announced, but when I saw them, I was very dissapointed. Thankfully, freelance graphic designer Adam Betts has created a new set of CS3 icons that have much more visual appeal then what Adobe has put out. Way to go, Adam.

Download the icons here.

In the passing of my grandmother, we were able to get together most of the family at her funeral for a group photo. Even though it was the result of a death, the time we spent together was alot of fun. Before we all left to go back home I asked to gather in the main room for a group photo.

I used one SB800 on-camera and two SB600′s wireless. My main light (SB800 with diffuser) was pointed straight at the subjects, while my SB600′s lit the room. After all of the years shooting large groups, I am very pleased at the result, especially in the short amount of time we had to set up and shoot.

Nikon D80 1/40 sec. @ f.3.5, ISO 125, 18mm

Today was a beautiful day with temperatures in the 70′s. The kids were out playing in the neighborhood. I gathered them together long enough to grab this photo with them in the back of my truck.
Taken with on-camera diffused flash using the SB-800 set on TTL-BL. Photo was adjusted in Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop.

Nikon D80 1/200 sec @ f/11 ISO 125

The moon was especially cool-looking tonight. The moon’s glow overpowers the detail, but the crescent of the moon was that of the Cheshire Cat’s smile.

Nikon D80 20sec. @ f/5 ISO 200

This is the better half of me, Rachel. This photo was taken at Kingwood Center in Mansfield, Ohio. The sun was coming in from behind and I filled with flash using my SB-800 with the diffuser cover. Some post processing done in Photoshop.
Nikon D80, 1/125 @ f/5.6, ISO 160

Today I photographed the apparel for JEGS High Performance catalog. The session went extremely well. All of the models did a great job and my new equipment performed just like I thought it would. I set up three Nikon Speedlights (one SB800, two SB600′s) and controlled them all wirelessly from my D80, using the pop-up flash as the commander, but not having it contribute to the exposure.

This picture is of Catherine in the 2007 Pro Stock T-shirt.
Nikon D80, 1/80 sec @ f/5.6, 15-55mm lens, ISO 125

This image was taken of Holly just before Christmas 2006 on train tracks just north of Delaware, Ohio. Image was adjusted in Adobe Lightroom.
Nikon D80  1/1600 @ f/5.6 ISO 800 55mm

I use Nikon camera equipment, which works for me the best. I’ve used Canon a couple of years ago and it just doesn’t fit me. Back in the days of film I shot with a Pentax LX. It was the top line 35mm Pentax camera back then.

Very soon, I will be purchasing a set of three Nikon SpeedLights to use with my D80. The SpeedLights have wireless iTTL metering and will make ‘intelligent’ lights for a portable studio setup. Throughout the next couple of weeks/months, I will be posting pictures that I take as I learn the Nikon Creative Lighting System.

I bought the DVD “The Speed of Light” to tell me more about the CLS. The DVD takes you through several real-life scenarios using the CLS to light the scenes. The photographer also explains what he is doing and why. Photo diagrams are shown to show basic lighting setup for each shot. For a photographer, its great inspiration and education.