Posts Tagged ‘family’

New Camera – Part 1

©TimeLine Media - X100s in low light

The photos are coming along from last weekend nicely! It is a privilege to see all the routines from the day even though it is impossible to see them all because of the two ballrooms. I think my associate photographers did a good job covering the event for you, and I am working quickly to get these done and on the website.

Camera Testing

For today’s post, I wanted to write about a new camera that I have started to use. I have a full compliment of bodies, lenses, and accessories for my Nikon DSLRs, but it became apparent during the summer walkabouts, that it is simply too heavy to carry around all day. A fatigued photographer is a compromised photographer, and there will likely be some photos that you will miss. In researching a suitable substitute for all that gear, I found the Fujifilm X100s.

Fujifilm X100s - image provide by Fujifilm Global
Fujifilm X100s – image provide by Fujifilm Global

This is one of the new large-sensor mirrorless cameras that has been released in the last 2 years. This class of cameras is becoming very popular because of the lightweight bodies, and superior image quality. The camera has a fixed focal length 23mm lens which translates to 35mm on a full-frame sensor. The aperture of this lens can open to f/2 allowing excellent low light performance. Using these technical specs, I decided that this would probably suit just fine as a substitute for my “big” cameras. After it arrived, I had to hop on a learning curve, that will be a long run to being comfortable.

Portrait Photography

©TimeLine Media - X100s in low light
©TimeLine Media – X100s in low light

Before I went into the more complicated features, I started at the basics. The first thing I noticed, is the weight – this camera is so light! It was much lighter than I expected, but the ergonomics makes it really easy to hand hold. The rangefinder-like viewfinder is HUGE making composing photos very easy. The lens on this camera is tack sharp even at f/2. The above photo was taken wide open with just overhead lights. With the large aperture, I could still get a sharp photo at ISO 400. I was happy with how it performed, but with my first shoot, it was clear that this was clearly not the same system I have been used to.

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Choices

©TimeLine Media - cake with icing

Happy rxbywhgrth birthday to my wife today! She has always been a supporter of my endeavors, and I have been much more successful because of her. We have make a good team, and looking back, we have accomplished much when we make a goal and work for it. Putting it in writing makes it seem more cold and thought out than how it actually happened. But our choices have gotten us to where we are today, and I am so lucky that she chose me to walk through life with her. The photos in the post are a few of her favorite things.

Professional Football

©TimeLine Media - Redskins players at practice
©TimeLine Media – Redskins players at practice

For my photography, she has helped me work out so much of my business practices. We teamed up to start photographing ballroom dance events, and we had to work out so much of back end of how to do this better than what we had experienced as guests. We tried things that worked, and attempted things that did not work. With every event I have done, she has been there to keep everything organized, and make sure I stayed refreshed over long weekends.

Baking

©TimeLine Media - cake with icing
©TimeLine Media – cake with icing

When we have done especially well, she has been quick to note how we have progressed. She remembers things in great detail to we can repeat, or make the good things even better the next time. It is constantly improving, and it has really kept me going. If I was doing this on my own, I probably would have burned out by now. But she has been a great sound board for my ideas, and she implements her ideas for helping customers get their images. Working with her in this way has made me appreciate her gifts much more than if we were both working jobs that were independent of each other. It is not the an easy task to photograph events the way that we do, but neither is anything worth doing.

Happy Birthday, baby! Can you download this card for me?

©TimeLine Media - Casey on film
©TimeLine Media – Casey on film

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703-864-8208

9 Years!

Wedding photos

9 years ago, my wife and I were married! A time before social media, touchscreen phones, and surprisingly, almost a decade ago. This being a photography blog, this is a perfect forum to go through the old photo archive and look back. 2004 was near the start of the digital photography explosion. Our professional photographers used both film and digital cameras to cover our wedding.

Anniversary

When we purchased the negatives, we actually got a folder of film negatives! Our favorite photos were shot from the film camera. It was, of course, the more mature medium, and they knew how to get the most out of the film compared to the digital captures. I remember Yakov used a Nikon F100, and Don used a Canon 10D with battery packs on their flashes hung on large brackets. It was my first up-close look at how a professional wedding photographer works. I suppose my life changed in more ways than one that day!

Wedding photos
Wedding photos from 9 years ago

We did have our own digital camera, a Nikon (of course) Coolpix 5700. It was my first digital camera, and I used it every chance that I could. I tried to work image composition, experimented with lighting, focus, and re-learned all the lessons of photography that were difficult to learn without the instant feedback possible with digital captures.

Wedding Photography

Today, I am helping to make new wedding images for couples, and October continues to be a popular time in the DC Area for weddings. I did now know until my fiance picked this date, that it is the BEST time to get married! The really hot and humid weather is gone, but the real cold has not moved in. It is appropriate to have saturated fall colors in the clothes and flowers in the day. Looking back, it is so nice to see how we can enjoy some time outside for our photos as well as to have earlier sunsets for nice portrait light. Aside from the technical side, these are priceless memories of our family gathering and celebration. I will have to remember this the next time I go out to photograph another wedding.

Wedding photos
Wedding photos

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703-864-8208

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