New Nikon D800

I have been working in the studio for a few years with the Nikon D3x and loving it. It wasn't just a matter of having 24mp which was a big improvement over previous Nikon but also a greater range of tones. I found it very hard at first not to crop too tight when taking the shot and taking advantage of all that extra detail and luxury of trying different crops in post processing. Quite apart from finding images within images which went right against those that say you have to get it right first time. I loved the D3x so much that it was even my travel camera.

So then we heard the rumours of the D800 with 36mp and thought that the speed and low light characteristics would be at least as bad as the D3x. It was a bit of a shock to find out that at least the low light shooting would be slightly better than the D700. I promptly sold my D700 and ordered a D800.

When the D800 arrived it was with trepidation that I shot it against the D3x. It was difficult to see the difference but it had the edge on the D3x with quality and detail plus of course it's small and lighter and has everything else the D3x was lacking, apart from shutter speed. I don't shoot sports so the shutter speed is of no great interest. 4 fps is quite fast enough.

The upshot of all that is that I ordered a second D800 and sold the D3x.

Peppa and my new Follow Spot

I have for some time been interested in getting a follow spot and while at Focus on Imaging I saw one that might be great and bought it. It was a bit of a risk as I was really not sure what the results would look like. Like my other modifiers it bolts onto the front of my Bowens lights but gives a very hard circle of light that can be focused and via an attachment, varied in size. One thing that I did find is that it gets really hot and needs gloves for any adjustments.

Anyway, up comes my next shoot for an agency I often work with and a new face in the form of the lovely Peppa. Here she is shot with my favourite softbox.

 And now here are a couple of images from the same shoot using the Follow Spot. Personally I love it. First shot from the same angle as the spot and then getting all the angles in. There is a slight diffraction of light and colour on the edge of the spot light which can be softened with a focus adjustment on the Follow Spot. This was my first use of the spot so lots to come.