Chicago night shoot

We had a blast with our night time photo shoot in the West Loop earlier this week. It was great meeting everyone. Can't wait for the next shoot out!

wedding : Lindsey + Jeremy

I love it when couples have reveals! They're so intimate and really bring out the true emotion of seeing each other for the first time on their wedding day. We had an awesome time shooting around Millennium Park before the ceremony and reception at the River East Arts Center. We also had one of boothshoot XL photo booths on-site for the reception. What a blast! Congratulations, Lindsey and Jeremy and thank you for letting us be part of your special day!

boothshoot photo booths @ The 2009 Chicago Marathon

I was so stoked when I got the call from a rep from Nike corporate that they were interested in having a couple of photo booths at their huge tent setup at the end of the 2009 Chicago Marathon.  Several phone calls and emails later we were a go.  Sunday morning rolled around and it was damp, cold, and dark but that didn't keep Greg, Jen, and I down.  We setup 2 of our classic sized digital photo booths back to back for Nike at their post-race tent in Grant Park.  The booths were customized with 6' tall graphic from Nike.  We had a blast at the event and the turnout was great despite the weather.  I got a little sick from the cold gyros but that's a story for another day.  :)

Nikon D3S announced

I've been a Nikon shooter for years and as a wedding photographer, rely on Nikon's D3 bodies for getting the shots that I need.  Fantastic high ISO performance, a great AF system, and built like a tank pro DSLR bodies.  As such, I have been anxiously waiting for their announcement of the newest pro body, the D3S.  After finally announcing it late last night, I'm on the fence about whether to pick one up.  The biggest draw for me personally was the video on a Nikon body with a full frame sensor.  Expecting this to fit the benchmark that Canon has set with their 5D Mark II (of which I have one), I was somewhat disappointed with the specs that Nikon released.

• 12.1MP - Same as the D3, not unexpected.
• Built-in sensor cleaning - Finally!  Nikon totally missed the mark on this with the D3.
• 9fps - (FX) I was expecting a couple more fps given the "S" moniker.
• Normal ISO range up to 12800 - Wow, but is really necessary?
• EXPEED processing - Same as D3, no updates here.
• 51 point AF - It works well on the D3, I just wish it covered a larger sensor area.
• 3" LCD - It's already an awesome display.
• Quiet shutter mode - Huh?
• D-Movie - Finally, video comes to a Nikon pro body.  But wait...

Let's talk about this D-Movie mode a bit as it was the one thing I was looking forward to the most.  Motion JPEG-based AVI files; I can live with this.  1280x720 resolution video...  What?  Only 720p?  Where's the 1080p?  To be a contender in a world with cameras like the GH1, 5DII, and 7D, 720p on a $5200 camera body seems a bit short of benchmark set by other cameras.  Sure, the high ISO performance looks pretty darned good; and 12800 is the new 6400 but when would it truly be practical to use [for a wedding shooter]?  Perhaps the biggest WTF of all: 5 minute video clips.  That's right kids, Nikon is claiming HD video clips up to 5 minutes in maximum length.  Now I'm not sure if this is a file system limitation whereas a 5 minute video clip will take up 4GB and reach the limit on the CF card's file system or if this is what the camera's memory buffer will hold up to.  The follow-up question is, how quickly can you start shooting again once the 5 minute limit has been hit?  Almost as pressing of a question is whether or not the in-movie AF is as rubbish as the 5DII's?

Confused?  Me too.  I was really stoked about Nikon's latest foray into the video-capable DSLR world.  Now, I'm not so sure.  Sound off via email or twitter @danginphoto I'd love to hear your input!

October SmugMug User Group Meeting

Animoto is an entry point to Fusion photography and promises to turn your photos & videos into pure amazing - and they'll PROVE IT at the next meeting!

Animoto is a web application that, with the click of a button, produces videos using images, video clips and music that a user selects. Utilizing patent-pending Cinematic Artificial Intelligence, Animoto videos have the emotional impact of a movie trailer and the visual energy of a music video. Simply submit photos and videos from your SmugMug gallery (okay, it works from other places too, including your hard drive) and Animoto automatically produces beautifully orchestrated, completely unique video pieces from your media. Free, fast and shockingly easy.



Date:

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Time:

7:00pm - 8:00pm

Location:

1000 W Monroe, Chicago, IL

She said YES!

When Jacob called me a couple months ago to discuss the an "engagement" shoot; it was a little different from my usual e-sessions.  We met at my studio one afternoon after work and he told me all about his plans to pop the question.  It was beautiful Sunday afternoon in September at the Chicago Botanic Garden.  With violinists Katherine Hughes and Carol Kalvonjian playing in the background he asked one little question that was answered with a resounding "YES!"