Han Solo Lego Microfighter - Panasonic GX7 + Speedlites + Snoot

Being both a Star Wars AND a Lego fan, it wasn't even like I had a choice of whether or not to buy the Han Solo Lego Microfighter when I saw it in the toy section at my local Walmart.  Besides, I can justify it by using it in a photo shoot, right? :-)

Nikon D610 Final Verdict: My Review Summary After 2 Weeks of Shooting With The Nikon D610

Sometimes your gut reaction on seeing something go tells you a lot, and I think that was the case with the Nikon D610. I was sad to see it go. Reluctant to say goodbye as I packed it up to ship it back to Nikon.  Did I shed a tear? I'll never tell. :-)

Ella Singing the FROZEN Theme Song - Fuji X-E2 + XF35mm f1.4R + Off-Camera Speedlites (x2)

Ella - Fuji X-E2 + XF 35mm f1.4R + Off-Camera Speedlites (x2)

If you have kids, young girls to be specific, you're probably used to a similar scene at your house, and you've probably heard Disney's FROZEN theme song so many times you can sing it in your sleep. :-)

Watching Ella sing it for the one millionth time, I had the thought to grab a camera and light her with some speedlites for a stage-like effect.  Since the Fuij X-E2 is still visiting us here at Art of the Image, I thought I'd let it do the honors.

My Change to the Land of M4/3's by Jamie Hansen (Shooting Weddings with M4/3's)

I'll be the first one to admit I'm a rookie. I have only been doing photography as a living for the last 4 years. When I say as a living, I mean I make 95% of my yearly income from photography.

Nikon D610 Review: Day 7 - Dominique... a Portrait Session with Speedlite Softboxes

Day 7 with the Nikon D610, and I was scheduled to do some portraits (or modelling shots) with Dominique.  Naturally, I figured it was time to pull out the Speedlite Softboxes. :-)

Ella - Natural Light Portraits with the Olympus 12-40mm f2.8 PRO on the Panasonic GX7

Just got the Olympus M.Zuiko ED 12-40mm f2.8 PRO in a couple of days ago here at Art of the Image, and it was sitting on the Panasonic GX7 when the girls came down from getting ready for school.

Fuji X-E2: Un-Boxed & First Impressions

Fuji X-E2 + Fujinon 35mm f1.4

It's no secret that the X series from Fuji has become incredibly popular in a very short time.  Holding the little Fuji X-E2 in my hands, I can see why.

The X-E2 exemplifies everything that's popular about mirrorless cameras.  It's small, lightweight, and most importantly, it's exquisitely built.

Fuji Finepix S1: Un-Boxed and First Impressions

Fuji Finepix S1 Pro 50X Ultrazoom

I've been waiting with anticipation to get my hands on the Fuji Finepix S1 ever since it's announcement earlier this year.  As a happy Canon SX50 owner, the S1 peaked my curiousity, begging the question, would the S1 be worthy of replacing my trusted little SX50 as my 50X ultrazoom?

Nikon D610 Review: Day 6 - Keurig: Shooting the World's MOST Popular Coffee Maker (Product Photography with a Single Softbox)

Keurig Coffee Maker - Nikon D610 + 24-85mm kit lens + Softbox

Day 6 of my time shooting with and evaluating the Nikon D610, and it's time to play with softboxes, or more specifically, 1 softbox.  Today I'm going to be doing a product shoot of the Keurig K60 coffee maker.

Plus, I'm going to use continuous lighting instead of a speedlite in a softbox.

The softbox I'm using has 4 sockets for standard household bulbs, and I use daylight balanced CFL bulbs, although you'd be fine with regular old lightbulbs too.  I'm using four 23 watt / 100 watt equivalent CFL bulbs in mine, so that gives me the equivalent of 400 watts of light from regular lightbulbs.

Panasonic GX7 Un-Boxed: First Impressions and Initial Observations of the Panasonic GX7

Panasonic GX7 + 14-42mm Kit Lens

I have to admit, I was pretty excited when I found out that Panasonic was sending me the Panasonic GX7 for review.  It's a camera I've been very interested in for a number of reasons, so as you can imagine, I had that little kid in the candy store feeling when the courier showed up at my door.

Right from the moment I took the box from the courier, I got my first hint at one of the BIG features of the little GX7, it's size.  The box that the GX7 shipped in, along with the Panasonic 20mm f1.7, both in their own original boxes inside the shipping box, was a small one, and it didn't weigh much either.

Canon Would Like to Wish All You Pro Photographers a Big "F" You!

Wow!  It looks like Canon is now in the business of setting up low-cost photo studios to under-cut professional photographers.

Not sure if this is the first, but the one in Calgary featured in the image above offers a portrait studio and print service with prices so ridiculously low that it even undercuts WALMART!

I'm totally flabbergasted!  Talk about biting the hand that feeds you.

Nikon D610 Review: Day 3 - Power Tools Product Photography With Grid Spots & Off-Camera Speedlites

Nikon D610 + 24-85mm kit lens + Speedlites, Grid Spot, & Reflector

Day 3 with the Nikon D610 and I’m thinking it’s time to shake it up a bit.  I was going to grab a couple of speedlite softboxes, but then I saw my gridspots lying there and thought it would be fun to play with them. 

And, it just so happened the Mrs. had my cordless drill and a couple of other tools lying around after assembling a dresser from Ikea, which gave me an idea.  Why not do some shots with the tools using hard lighting from the grid spots on a couple of speedlites? 

Let’s have a look at the set-up. (click on any of the photos to see larger version)

Nikon D610 + Nikon 50mm f1.8G = Simply STUNNING Image Quality!

Nikon D610 + 50mm f1.8G + Window Light @ f1.8

As I continue with my review of the Nikon D610, I've been shooting as many different situations as possible to thoroughly put the D610 through it's paces, and I'd be remiss if I didn't do a natural light shoot with my favorite Nikon lens, the amazing little Nikon 50mm f1.8G.

Nikon D610 Review: Day 2 - Off-Camera Speedlites at the Beachville Museum Pt2

Nikon D610 + 24-85mm Kit Lens + Off-Camera Speedlite - ISO 400

Continuing on with my visit to the Beachville Museum with the Nikon D610 on Day 2 of my Nikon D610 review, it was time for a little bonus fun.  I always love playing around with speedlites because it's more often than not what you don't light that makes an image interesting. :-)

Nikon D610 Review: Day 2 - HIGH ISO at the Beachville Museum (Projector, 1st Baseball Game, Piano & Other Mid-1800's antiques) Pt1

Nikon D610 + 24-85mm Kit Lens - ISO 3200

For my second day with the Nikon D610, I went out to the Beachville Museum where they had everything from antique toys, to an exhibit from the first baseball game, to a recreation of Thomas Taylor's mid-1800's General Store.

More importantly, a lot of the exhibit rooms were very dimly lit, which provided a perfect opportunity to continue my testing of the D610's high ISO abilities.

Nikon D610 Review: Day 1 - Thoughts on the Nikon D610 after 1st Shooting Assignment at the Woodstock Museum

Nikon D610 + Nikon 50mm f1.8G - OOC JPG - 1/250s @ f1.8 ISO 200

Since the Nikon D610 is such a GREAT high ISO camera, I wanted to shoot some interesting locations that would benefit from those abilities.

Here in Oxford County, we’re blessed with several interesting museums to choose from, so I thought I’d check out the Woodstock Museum in downtown Woodstock, Ontario to see what exhibits they had running to test the D610.

Sure enough, they had some interesting stuff. (click on any of the photos to view larger size)

The Best Little Wireless Flash Trigger Receiver for the Price

There are a LOT of wireless flash trigger receiver units out there, and I'm sure a lot of them are pretty good.

What I KNOW is that I've been using these little wireless flash triggers & receivers for years now, and they work GREAT!

Nikon D610 Un-Boxed: First Impressions and Initial observations of the Nikon D610

I have to admit, I was pretty excited when Nikon told me the Nikon D610 was on it’s way.  I mean, I’m always excited when I get a new camera to play with here at Art of the Image, but the D610 has a little something special going for it. 

I think it may be the BIGGEST SLEEPER camera out there right now (but more on that later).

When FedEx arrived at the door with the box, it was a little bigger than I was expecting, but then I remembered Nikon had sent the Nikon D610 kit complete with Nikon 24-85mm f3.5 - 4.5 ED VR lens, so naturally it was a little bigger than just the camera would be.