Nikkor 85mm f/1.4 Lens

This is one of those lenses that serves pretty much one purpose, but it serves that purpose better then almost any other lens on the market. From the moment I started using the legendary Nikkor 85mm f/1.4 AF-D lens, I knew that it was the portrait lens to beat all other portrait lenses.

It is a fast lens, at f/1.4, which makes it great for low light photography, but it's use as a portrait lens can not be denied. The wide aperture allows for extremely shallow depth of field, which renders the backgrounds smooth and creamy. Virtually any background instantly becomes a handpainted canvas. The sharpness is spot on, even wide open, and the color and contrast have a very distinctive quality which renders skin tones perfectly. The focal length, although a little cramped with a cropped sensor DSLR, is perfect for head and shoulder portraits.

A couple of shots from today with the 85mm f/1.4 lens and the D200:

Sneak Preview: Fall Photo Sale

This is huge, blog readers.

For the month of October, I will be setting up my studio and start a product photo marathon, of sorts. Why? To provide small bath and body company owners (and chandlers!) with quick and affordable professional photography just in time for your holiday promotions. I'm offering special pricing on my basic white photography packages, with inexpensive upgrade options.

The Fall Photo Sale will not be officially announced until early September when I open back up, so stay tuned!

Client Spotlight: Winks & Co.

I recently had the privilege of photographing some decadent shea butter Body Butters from Laurie Winks at Winks & Co. After many failed attempts to relieve her dry skin through commercial products, she started making her own. After many batches and combinations of ingredients, she reached her goal… a body butter that is creamy, not oily feeling, filled with moisturizing ingredients, smells great and feels wonderful to use.

Try out her whipped-to-perfection Body Butters today at Winks & Co.

Nikon D200

I was at Best Buy today, and decided to pick myself up a D200. I really didn't want to carry the ginormous D2X around Vietnam for 2 weeks, but I wanted something more rugged then the D70.

My initial impressions are that this is very much the D2X's baby brother. The controls are very similiar, and the build is the same... solid as a rock.
I did several side by side comparisons of the same scene with the D2X, and the image quality is almost identical. Nikon really packs in a lot of features into this camera. The focus is much improved over the D70, however it still falls short of the D2X. It will be more then suitable for most situations.

Some of my first shots with the D200:

Leaving Soon

Typhoid Vaccine? Check. Vietnamese Visa? Check. Disposable Underwear? Check. Xanax....

Only a week and a half until I leave for the far east, and I have all but packed my bags. Jon and I watched Indochine (with Katherine Deneuve) a few nights ago. Part of the film is set in Halong Bay, and the scenery is just stunning. It's hard for me to believe I will be there, swimming in that bay, in just a few weeks. It will be a long journey getting there; from Hartford to New York City, and then from NYC to Seoul, Korea (14 hours!), and then on to Hanoi, Vietnam. I'll only have a day of rest before I have to take a 10 hour night train to the mountain hill staion of Sapa. It's going to be hot and humid, perhaps opressively so on some days, but in the end it will be worth it all.

Check back here for updates while I am away!