the 50mm

the 50mm is one of a photographers favorite lenses. ZOE LAURENT http://zoelaurent.wordpress.com from BERLIN ask me about purchasing a 50mm 1.8 versus the 50mm 1.4 recently. since i have both lenses, i thought i'd do a quick test because the .4 difference can add an additional $200 + dollars to the equation. the results of my quick, non-scientific, real-worldish test were closer than i expected. ALTHOUGH having used both lenses i can tell you the f1.4 is faster and will give you an extra stop in low light situations that can sometimes be the difference between getting the shot losing it in the shadows.

THX for asking ZOE - hope this helps.

cheers,

the WILD SIDE

you know... you never know what is going to show up at the studio to have its picture made.
i just had to show you this thing.

so not all shoots and rockstars and models... okay - most of them aren't. but they are all exciting in their own way. take this beast for instance. i was pretty sure it was going to attack if i continued to refer to it as a "golf car." actually pretty impressive process they use to transfer the camo onto the body of what would formally have been called a golf car.

rest of the week promises to be a exciting blur - shooting all day wed and thursday before meetings in charleston friday.

good times.

the LUNDY band

good times at BLUE in the vista sunday. had a down and dirty shoot with LUNDY prior to their new album release next month. we met a BLUE so i could watch them cover a few songs and get a feel for the band. our indoor location didn't work out so we quickly scoped out a couple outside locations and got straight to work as we were loosing light fast. it was a rockstar photoshoot complete with altercation with a rent-a-police officer, who i'm sure got lucky last night recalling his feat of heroism running off us hoodlums. i didn't bring the vagabond so the bees stayed stowed and the speedlights got a pretty intense workout as the light fell. i actually overheated the SB-900 twice which is why i still prefer the SB-800s. donnie (the guitarist) has a beautiful 1968 triumph replica that we used for a prop. the first location shoot almost entirely with the RZ67 and 75mm SB lens with the tilt/shift adapter. the alley shoots were with the D3 and the 70-200 f2.8. because we were working fast and i didn't have time to trouble shoot nikon CLS, i triggered the speedlights with cybersyncs. i promise i'll buy PW's the 1st time the cybersyncs fail - but they never fail... i love 'em. for a couple shoots we hung a SB-800 in front of the headlight of the bike for the kicker. i could tell you more about the music on the new album... but i'm sworn to secrecy until next month when it hits (no pun) - you're going to love it - whoops.

PS: my back is starting to bitch to me about getting assistant.

cheers.

the TEACHER

we are blessed in AIKEN, SC to have a wonderful public school system. with all the negative press the public school system seems to get nationally (probably rightfully), it is easy to forget that in our little city of AIKEN there is a national award winning, dedicated, creative and completely committed group of teachers that i feel lucky to send my daughter to learn from.

this year the TEACHER OF THE YEAR for AIKEN ELEMENTARY is: KRISTY SIRMANS!
we could never say THANK YOU enough to this dedicated group of professionals.

so THANK YOU MS SIRMANS, MS OSBORNE, MS PENCILLE, MS WHITEHURST, MS GREGORY, MS CLINE and all the other incredible teachers in this area who help help improve our community by investing so much in our children.

full disclosure: my mom retired after 28 years of service to the AIKEN COUNTY school system.

PS: any gramatical errors, misspellings or artistic license in this post should bare no reflection on the previously mentioned school system : )

cheers.