DSLR

Taking the New Camera for a Spin

As I had previously mentioned in my last post I have recently upgraded to a full frame DSLR. There are a lot of advantages of having a full frame camera such as High ISO performance, getting the true focal length out of your lenses and just better overall image quality. I’ve yet to use it for a shoot but I took it to Old Town to  just feel around with the functionality of the camera.

DSC_2807-5

The first thing I instantly noticed was the focal length of my lenses. When I originally shot on my D5100 which was a DX sensor, meaning that it had a 1.5 crop factor on every lens I used. This means my 50 F1.8g worked like a 75mm lens my 85 F1.8g was closed to being a 130mm  lens and my 70-200 2.8 worked more like a 105-300mm lens. On this new full frame camera all these lenses look a lot wider to me. Now My 85 looks a lot closer to what my 50 used to be on my old camera. This is really forcing me to get closer to my subjects and thinking more carefully about my composition. Now this acquisition has encouraged me into looking at getting a wide angle lens and I am currently looking at the 28 F1.8g to give me the wide angle on this camera but that might be later down the line.

DSC_2799-4

another benefit I’ve seen in the full frameness of this camera is how the Raw files turn out. I do all my post processing in Lightroom and the high ISO performance on top of getting all the information off the sensors has been great during post processing. Some files that go in a little over or underexposed are easily tweaked and the color tones I’m able to get is far superior that I ever got out of my DX camera.

DSC_2836-7

Going forward I’m looking forward to things I can do with this camera in portraits and shooting the candid/journalistic situation that I like throwing myself into. The other features of the camera work up to satisfaction for me as far as frames per second in continuous burst, the build of the camera and the focusing system is quicker than anything I had in my last camera so all is well in photography land with my new camera.

DSC_2809-6

Last Shoot with my First DSLR

Almost a year ago I got myself a Nikon D5100. I had originally gotten the camera for video purposes so that I could film better quality YouTube videos but through associations and professional opportunities I learned to use it as a proper camera and learned the ins and outs of the camera settings, Manual operations and the rules to follow (and break) in photography in the Year that I had the camera I also invested in full frame, Wide aperture lenses and other pieces of equipment thinking that they will be good now and great when I choose to upgrade. Well I’ve officially upgraded and gotten myself a refurbished D600, full frame DSLR.

The day before the new camera was delivered I decided that I was going to send it off with shooting a random set with my close friend Yasamin.

Yasamin-4

Yasmine does not have any real modeling experience to speak of and as such is a very shy person when the camera pointed at her. That being said she is one of the more energetic people I’ve ever worked and this was an excellent opportunity to work on my directing skills which is one of my weakest tools in my photography utility belt.

Yasamin-3

 

Being that she is such a high wired individual I had to approach this as not so much as telling her what to do but more along the lines of how I wanted her to behave. When I’m shooting portraiture I don’t like to spend and extensive amount of time positioning the subject into exactly where I want them to be. Instead I like to have them just flow freely and position themselves while I look for the best spot and the best moment to get the shot I want. Does it work every time: No but it’s more enjoyable way to shoot in my mind. This method has been great when I’ve worked with models who have been doing this line of work for quite a long time and know how to control their body language and expressions well in front of the camera. However this method isn’t nearly as effective when working with a more inexperienced model and proved to be a challenge. However after some trial and error I started to get the best out of the subject by just harnessing her personality.

Yasamin-2

 

This shoot proved to be a very fun way to send off a camera that has served me well over the last year and we’re both ready to move on to bigger and better things. Although it can be a smart idea to keep your older bodies as back ups I’m selling my D5100 to a friend of mine who actually owns and operates a local magazine out here in the land of enchantment and has some big plans for the camera. Me on the other hand will begin adjusting to shooting on a full frame camera where my focal lengths are going to start looking quite a bit wider and the noise in the photos are going to be a lot less noticeable. I’ve enjoyed growing as a photographer over this last year and I’m looking forward to what this next year brings me and my new camera.