Countdown

In only 4 days I am off to Costa Rica and I couldn't be more excited! Although I have some work to do while I'm down there (stock and product photography), I am meeting a couple of friends for a week of warm weather and adventure. The first half of our week will be spent in Monteverde, a cloud forest reserve in the central-north region of the country. Here we plan on doing a zip line and canopy tour, and hopefully a little horseback riding. Then we're off to the beaches of Manuel Antonio Parque Nationale, where we will be white water rafting, waterfall repelling and, to top it all off, bungee jumping.

The studio will be closed from Mar. 24th- April 2nd while I'm away.

Check back soon for a full trip report!

Commercial Photos

Some recently completed photos for Bella Lucce's new bath and body collections:

New Lenses!

My camera bag has had a bit of an overhaul lately! First lens to go? My Tokina 12-24 f/4. Last year sometime, I dropped this lens and the autofocus stopped working. It was a great lens, and still looked almost perfect cosmetically, but I really didn't use it all that much, so I sold it.

Next, I was in a bit of a quandary trying to figure out what lenses to bring on an upcoming trip to Costa Rica. When I travel, I rarely bring anything longer then my 85mm lens. I tend to be more of a wide angle shooter. However, Costa Rica is known as a birder's paradise. My longest lens was a Nikon 80-200 f/2.8. While it is a fantastic lens, it's also very heavy (too heavy for me to carry around by myself all over some hot, tropical country). 200mm is also a little short for wildlife. So, I started looking into the newly released 70-300VR. I had previously owned the Nikon 70-300D, and it was a pretty horrible lens, so I didn't have high hopes for the VR version, however after doing some research the reviews were surprisingly favorable and I ordered a copy. The lens surprised me in every way. So much so that I realized I no longer had a need for the 80-200 so up for sale that went! Don't get me wrong, the f/4.5-5.6 aperture of the 70-300 in no way replace the f/2.8, but like I said, I rarely shoot above 85mm anyway, so there was no reason to have both of them and the size of the 70-300 makes it a much more enjoyable lens to use.

My next new lens is the 17-35 f/2.8. This is a sweet lens. I had a copy of it a couple years ago, but like an idiot I sold it and I have regretted it ever since. After selling the 12-24 I needed to replace it with something on the wide end, and the 17-35 was my first choice. I got a great deal on one from a seller on Nikonians, and I will be receiving it soon!