Nikon V2 In My Bag

I recently purchased a used Nikon V2 with two lenses on eBay for a great price.  The V2 has a small sensor with a crop factor of X2.7, which really increases the length of my longer lenses.  The image quality looks good in the lower ISO range, actually I'm impressed.

I used my Nikon V2 yesterday on assignment shooting for an Oil & Gas company.  The photo above was shot using my manual focus 300mm f/2.8 with a X2 converter.  With a crop factor of 2.7, the focal length equals a 1620mm lens. Here is another image shot at sunset the night before.

My new Nikon V2 has earned a spot in my camera bag. Here is another image with just the 300mm on the V2, effective length of lens is 810mm.  This was shot from the ground looking up to the deck of the drilling platform.

UPAA Symposium

I was recently invited to speak and conduct 3 mini workshops at this years UPAA symposium.  It was held at Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama.  The photo below was created to show how to produce a proper bounce technique.

The flash which produced the bounce was placed behind the subject on camera left. With a set of barndoors on the Nikon flash, I aimed the flash over the subject to the wall camera right.  I allowed a small amount of light to strike the model, providing a small amount of rim.  I also placed a flash at the end of the hallway we were shooting with a orange gel.

High Speed Sync

My Austrian friend Eric turned me on to this interesting fact. If you use a RadioPopper JRx receiver and a RadioPopper PX Transmitter together, you can get high speed sync.  The photo above was shot with the following settings. Nikon D800, ISO 100, 24mm, 1/5000, f/2.8. I am able to get high speed sync using my Lumedyne strobes as well as my new FalconEyes SG-100.
I pick up this FalconEyes SG-100 flash while teaching in Europe last month. You can see a complete review on this product HERE.

Here is the lighting set up for the photo at the top of the page. The battery for the FalconEyes SG-100 has two Sony batteries inside the black box.  It gives you a lot of pops.

You can see the RadioPopper Jrx hooked up to the FalconEyes SG-100.  This flash is not as powerful as my Lumedynes, I was able to get high speed sync with the Lumedynes up to 1/8000.  When my power setting on the Lumedyne was full power, 800ws.  At 1/8000 of a second at 800ws I notice a very, very slight shading at the bottom of the frame.

Chickens In The Studio

Today I took my chickens into the studio for a few pictures.  I wanted a clean white set up and a nice reflection under them.  I used tile board for the surface the chickens are standing on, the white seamless reflects perfectly on the surface.  Here are a few set up photos to show you how I put this together.  You will notice that I placed some black panels to help minimize the possible flare from lighting a white background.

I used a beauty dish to light the chickens, the dish also had a sock over the face of it to soften the light a bit.

 The chicken show above is only a stand in.  My wife once made diapers for chickens she sold at a county fair, Crazy! The next photos show the lighting of the background, one SB-800 on either side to light it evenly.

New Orleans Speedlight Workshop

Mark your calendar, wait! Register right now and then mark your calendar!   These workshops sell out very fast so don't delay.  I'll be joining my friend and fellow mentor Dave Black on this fun workshop.  For more information visit the Mentor Series website.