I Love Prom

One of my favourite events to shoot is prom. There’s something about the youthful energy and willingness to be silly that I just love about these events.

The way I do proms is pretty cool. Students get their photos taken – any pose they want, 3 to 5 photos each. The photos appear instantly at the computer selection workstations and students then get to pick which photo(s) they want printed. Photos are printed in a few seconds and handed immediately to the student – no delays.

Here are a few of my favourite shots from the ESA Prom:

If you’re tired of boring prom photos, maybe it’s time to change photographers! Prom committees, give me a call or send me an e-mail.

If you’re looking for a Prom committee gift, a popular and complimentary gift of a photo frame is a great idea. I’ve got hundreds of styles to choose from, and offer them at wholesale costs.

Here’s a sample of the very stylish black 5x7 frame.

Mommy with Baby

Is there ever a better time to take photos then just after a newborn joins the world? 

You’ve likely already got the family together, it’s a time you really want to remember, and who doesn’t want a great, professional photo of their new baby?

There’s nothing quite like a skin-on-skin photo of mommy and baby.  Soft lighting, and soft focus give shots like this one a gentle feel, and look great when enlarged.

More fun with Depth of Field - Testing the AF-S Nikkor 85mm f1.4 prime lens

The latest addition to my camera bag is an AF-S Nikkor 85mm f/1.4G prime lens.  This lens is incredibly sharp and gives you a ton of control over the depth of field.

The shot shown below was taken at 1/4000 of a second at f/1.4 with the ISO set to LO1 on a Nikon D300. 

If you look closely, you’ll notice that her hair and neck is already out of focus leaving only share focus on the face.  Lenses like this make it easy to draw your focus where you want it.

Of course, as much fun as it is to play with a prime lens, sometimes there’s still no substitute for a zoom lens when it comes to flexibility in composing an image.  At f/2.8 you still get pretty shallow depth of field, with the added freedom of rapid variation in composition.

Here are a couple photos shot in rapid succession with a Nikkor 17-55 mm f/2.8 lens:

First a close-up at 52mm, then seconds later a wide shot with a bit more perspective at 30mm:

The more I shoot outdoors the more I like it.  The ruggedness of the rocks in the background makes it that much easier to draw your attention to the model.

This last shot, also with the 17-55mm was shot at 35mm, f/2.8.  Sunlight provided a natural hair light with a large circular reflector filling in the shadows from the front.

Cool Moments – Pun Intended!

Every once in a while you wake up one morning, load the kids in the car and are suddenly struck by the beauty around you in your previously “boring” neighbourhood.

After loading the kids in the car, I ran back inside the house, grabbed my equipment and shot these amazing shots of frozen frost on the grass and leaves in my front yard:

This one is my favourite.  I love the depth of field and the perspective.  Other great shots:

Shots like these make great Windows Desktop Backgrounds and I’d rather have a shot I took up there than the standard Windows or MacOS backgrounds any day!

So next time you’re going about your day, take a minute or two to notice something beautiful around you and grab a quick snapshot!

Depth of Field in Church Weddings

When I shoot weddings I like to get at least one photo of the Bride and groom at the front of the Church enjoying the ceremonly.

What follows are a couple of samples of shots taken at a recent event.

Taken with a Nikon D200 with an 70-200mm F2.8 lens, at 200mm, f2.8, ISO set to 640, this photo was shot from about 30 feet away using a lens-mounted monopod for added stability.

The slightly out of focus groom in the background keeps your attention squarely focused on the bride who is clearly enjoying the moment.

To the left is another example, this time showing how changing

the orientation of the shot can capture that extra bit of detail (the flowers) can add an extra element to the shot that was previously lacking.

Of course it's also hard to miss the fact that both the bride and groom seem to be enjoying this moment even more than the last. Timing is everything when it comes to shots like these and this is good example of how it is possible to get a great shot with a little patience.

This shot is also a little brighter than the last. It was shot with the same lens as the last shot, but this time at 155mm, f2.8, 30th of a second and ISO800.

What I find makes these shots interesting is the shallow depth of field combined with the soft lighting of the environment. Shooting with a bright lens is what makes this possible, so if you don't already have an f2.8 or brigher lens in your camera bag, now's the time to go get one.