JoeMcnally’s Hot Shoe Diaries Workshop – Part 2

Warning, more images to come icon smile JoeMcnally’s Hot Shoe Diaries Workshop – Part 2

As a continuation from my previous blog post, after a heavy buffet lunch at Shangri-La (believe me, the food there was so good that it was so difficult not to want to try everything!), we all proceeded with our own individual assignments. Individual means that we split up into various groups and each group consisted of 4 team members. Each team would have a model assigned to them and we had to split our time to photograph the model.

Both Shen and Hafiz were in my group and I was the 3rd person to have a go. Part of our assignment was that we were able to borrow any of the equipment available there. From the image below, you would know that we took an Ezybox softbox with an SB-900 and an external battery pack together with another SB-900. We also made used of our own equipment as well. Since we only had an hour, we had to decide on our location as soon as we could. We had the beautiful Melissa first.

JoeMcNallyWorkshop blog 16 JoeMcnally’s Hot Shoe Diaries Workshop – Part 2Here was Shen attempting his shot with us helping out by carrying the C-Stand

JoeMcNallyWorkshop blog 17 JoeMcnally’s Hot Shoe Diaries Workshop – Part 2This was my attempt within 10 minutes. Wished I had more time to get the lighting set up a little bit more elaborately icon wink JoeMcnally’s Hot Shoe Diaries Workshop – Part 2

After the hour was up, we moved back into the workshop room where we were assigned another model to work with and we again had the usual 15 minutes. Our next model was Shirlyn who was a professional dancer (you can guess that Joe really likes dancers especially if you have read through both “The Moment it Clicks” and “The Hot Shoe Diaries”).

JoeMcNallyWorkshop blog 18 JoeMcnally’s Hot Shoe Diaries Workshop – Part 2
My first attempt to begin with one light first before adding in additional lights. The first idea that came into my mind was to try out a multiple exposure shot but with movement but after consulting Joe, that setup would have taken me more than 15 minutes of my allotted time. I then decided that I would stick with the simple double exposure and the results are shown below.

JoeMcNallyWorkshop blog 19 JoeMcnally’s Hot Shoe Diaries Workshop – Part 2Double exposure, courtesy of a Nikon technology icon wink JoeMcnally’s Hot Shoe Diaries Workshop – Part 2

JoeMcNallyWorkshop blog 20 JoeMcnally’s Hot Shoe Diaries Workshop – Part 2Since I managed to set things up pretty quickly, we then experimented with a few other shots with a simple two lighting system. Again still sticking to small flashes.

JoeMcNallyWorkshop blog 21 JoeMcnally’s Hot Shoe Diaries Workshop – Part 2After the assignments were over, we gathered downstairs for Joe to show us a little bit more of his concept and his ideas and how he actually came up with the shot.

JoeMcNallyWorkshop blog 22 JoeMcnally’s Hot Shoe Diaries Workshop – Part 2Joe took out the big gun for this, the 200mm f/2 lens which is a huge lens and cost a bomb!

JoeMcNallyWorkshop blog 23 JoeMcnally’s Hot Shoe Diaries Workshop – Part 2

After the workshop ended and Joe had to rush over to Business.FM for a radio interview, we quickly had our books signed as well as took photos with Joe.

JoeMcNallyWorkshop blog 24 JoeMcnally’s Hot Shoe Diaries Workshop – Part 2Not forgetting Drew as well icon smile JoeMcnally’s Hot Shoe Diaries Workshop – Part 2

JoeMcNallyWorkshop blog 25 JoeMcnally’s Hot Shoe Diaries Workshop – Part 2Ok, I definitely need to lose lots of weight. Totally put on too much recently.

After the workshop, I had to stay back a while for a secret performance practice which was due to be showcased the day after at Joe’s Seminar. This portion was for Louis’ talk on guerrilla lighting. Whilst waiting for Joe to get back from his interview, Ian was toying around playing with his Alien Bees and while he was still setting up his lights, I took this shot of Melissa using available light.

JoeMcNallyWorkshop blog 26 JoeMcnally’s Hot Shoe Diaries Workshop – Part 2After a brief and expensive juice at the cafe, practice started and I somehow managed to spy this guy in the ballroom taking shots of the practice using an unmarked camera. Some say that it could be a Sony Alpha but others might say that its actually a new Canon. I don’t think it was a Nikon because of shape of it but before I start to speculate, we can’t really really tell what camera is that.

JoeMcNallyWorkshop blog 27 JoeMcnally’s Hot Shoe Diaries Workshop – Part 2An unknown person with a Sony Alpha 5D Mk2

JoeMcNallyWorkshop blog 28 JoeMcnally’s Hot Shoe Diaries Workshop – Part 2And of course Johan was assisting out the whole day that after almost 16 hours of carrying light stands and small flashes, it seems that he has really gone bonkers icon wink JoeMcnally’s Hot Shoe Diaries Workshop – Part 2

This was how I spent my birthday this year with those crazy photographers as well as the honour and pleasure of meeting Joe and Drew as well as learning from him. I must practice what I learned so do drop me an email if you are interested in having your personal portraiture done.

A Simple Portrait Collection

I finally gotten around to compile some of the portrait photos I have taken recently, and by recently I mean quite a while back. Anyway it was one of the requirements which Grace gave me and asked me to do which was due in January last month. Well, all I can say that it is always better to be late than never! icon biggrin A Simple Portrait Collection

The slideshow contains some of the portraiture sessions which I shot whether it may be a couple portraiture, to a personal profile image as well as behind the scenes shoot.

p.s. Make sure that the video has fully loaded before playing it to enjoy the full experience

Do let me know what you think of the slideshow in the comments section, thanks!

Statue of Liberty & Ellis Island

I am sure many of you would have heard about this fantastic landmark situated in New York, off Manhattan Island. What a lot of people might not know about is Ellis Island. When I was traveling around in that region, there were many options to choose from and I always planned that I will head back to New York again in the future.

There are a couple of ways to actually see the Statue of Liberty, you can take a helicopter tour where the Statue would be extremely small. Of course that would cost you quite a fair bit but you get to enjoy the view of New York. If money is of a concern of you, then you can also take the Staten Island Ferry which is free! Only thing is that you need a 300mm lens to get a good view of the Statue of Liberty.

The last option, which was the option I took, was that I bought a City Pass (USD$79) that allows me to go to various tourist attractions around New York at a cheaper rate. The pass provided a tour which visits the Statue of Liberty as well as Ellis Island.

NewYorkPart2 007 Statue of Liberty & Ellis Island

Statue of Liberty

NewYorkPart2 008 Statue of Liberty & Ellis Island

Above were some of the shots that were taken from the ferry before docking on the island. I was amongst everyone else trying to get a view of the Statue and trust me, there were plenty of people pulling out their cameras and video cameras capturing the spectacular sight of a huge statue before us.

The first thing we did after we landed on the island was to get some lunch and walk around the park enjoying the cool New York breeze. It was a tad bit cold that day (I was wearing shorts at the time!) but it was still bearable thanks to my natural insulation icon wink Statue of Liberty & Ellis Island

NewYorkPart2 011 Statue of Liberty & Ellis Island

There is also a museum located at the back of the Statue of Liberty but note that the City Pass does not cover the cost of going into the museum nor does it allow you to enter the Statue of Liberty. Unfortunately at that time we were there, they hadn’t open the entrance or the section which allowed visitors to climb all the way to the torch of the statue.

NewYorkPart2 010 Statue of Liberty & Ellis Island

All we could do was to admire the statue from the base. Of course besides just the statue, there is a gift shop and a restaurant which serves fish and chips.

NewYorkPart2 013 Statue of Liberty & Ellis Island

The park was also filled with mini statues of various guys, I think they were the architects who build the statue. I think.

After debarking from Liberty Island, the ferry wouldn’t head back to Manhattan Island but it brings everyone to Ellis Island. Now you might have heard about Ellis Island from one of the popular movies, Hitch, starring Will Smith. In the show, his first date with Sara Melas (played by Eva Mendes) was at Ellis Island. So it was pretty cool to actually walk around the huge museum.

NewYorkPart2 016 Statue of Liberty & Ellis Island

There were many tours about including live shows where actors would act out the reenactment of the people who traveled from around the world to head to New York to find a better life.

NewYorkPart2 015 Statue of Liberty & Ellis Island

Talking about the number of immigrants, it sort of also reminded me of the old show, Gangs of New York where there were plenty of Irish immigrants in New York at that time.

So if you are in the New York area, these are one of the must go to places.

Poh Seong & Chiu Yen’s Portrait Session

When Chiu Yen contacted me via email about a portrait shoot, I’ve always been communication with her. The moment when I arrived at the shoot location, I was so surprised that Poh Seong was there as well. What a small world! Poh Seong is my neighbour and I used to go to the same high school as his younger brother.

After a couple of weeks of planning the shoot and finally the location, we met in KL at the Heritage Hotel for our portrait session.

I was really looking forward to this shoot and here are some of the images that I took during the shoot.

PohSeongChiuYen Blog 001 Poh Seong & Chiu Yens Portrait Session

PohSeongChiuYen Blog 003 Poh Seong & Chiu Yens Portrait Session

PohSeongChiuYen Blog 004 Poh Seong & Chiu Yens Portrait Session

PohSeongChiuYen Blog 005 Poh Seong & Chiu Yens Portrait Session

PohSeongChiuYen Blog 006 Poh Seong & Chiu Yens Portrait Session

PohSeongChiuYen Blog 011 Poh Seong & Chiu Yens Portrait Session

PohSeongChiuYen Blog 012 Poh Seong & Chiu Yens Portrait Session

PohSeongChiuYen Blog 014 Poh Seong & Chiu Yens Portrait Session

PohSeongChiuYen Blog 016 Poh Seong & Chiu Yens Portrait Session

PohSeongChiuYen Blog 020 Poh Seong & Chiu Yens Portrait Session

PohSeongChiuYen Blog 015 Poh Seong & Chiu Yens Portrait Session

PohSeongChiuYen Blog 010 Poh Seong & Chiu Yens Portrait Session

It was one of the fun shoots that I had and it was great to have been able to shoot both Chiu Yen and Poh Seong. I also have to thank @munz for helping me out throughout the day. She took some behind the scenes shots as well but I haven’t gotten around to posting them up yet.

The Nikon D700 – Its Official

Updated: 17:06

Thanks Eugene for the heads up on this bit of news. I was out at lunch earlier only to find this very interesting bit of news sitting in my comments column in my last post.

Good to know that Nikon has finally launched the Nikon D700 and its as good as the rumours claimed it to be. Awesome stuff this new FX camera which sports the Nikon D3′s CMOS full frame sensor. To top it off, Dpreview mentioned that it sports a sensor cleaner, something which Nikon’s flagship D3 did not have.

d700press The Nikon D700   Its Official
Image source: DPreview.com

As I previously posted, the Nikon D700 is indeed a camera to behold, fits nicely within the price ranges of the previous D300 and the high-end D3. At USD$2999, I would expect the camera to be priced at RM9k and any lower than that would be a good bonus.

I think it might just be the right time to retire my D200 and head towards greener pastures or perhaps, larger pastures. With this already available, I would say that all of my remaining lens purchases should revolve around FX type lenses and no longer should I look at DX lenses unless to be used with the D300.

Available at the end of July, we should expect the camera to hit our Malaysian shores in September and hopefully by then we can see samples of the D700 in action at ISO6400. Very curious to see if this baby can keep images clean at ISO6400.

2547 nikon d300 d700 preview The Nikon D700   Its Official
D700 next to a D300 - Image Source: Rob Galbraith

Update:

Pre-orders for both the Nikon D700 and SB-900 is already available at Shashinki. Check them out here.

pixel trans The Nikon D700   Its Official
100x100 NK D700 The Nikon D700   Its Official
Nikon D700 Digital SLR Camera Body Only (FX Full Frame 12MP CMOS, Live View, Image Sensor Cleaning) (Japan Import)
Date Added: Tuesday 01 July, 2008
Manufacturer: Nikon
Price: RM10,300.00
button in cart The Nikon D700   Its Official
pixel trans The Nikon D700   Its Official
100x100 NK SB900 The Nikon D700   Its Official
Nikon SB-900 Speedlight i-TTL Shoe Mount Flash (Guide No. 34/111.5 (ISO 100, m/ft))
Date Added: Tuesday 01 July, 2008
Manufacturer: Nikon
Price: RM1,995.00
button in cart The Nikon D700   Its Official

Sources:

More Nikon D700 leaks with pictures!

Late last night after my meeting, I managed to catch Eugene’s site on this bit of news. Today I found the site that reportedly published the Nikon D700 and the new SB-900 (new flash unit) will be out at the end of July.

Nikon D700 profifoto More Nikon D700 leaks with pictures! Nikon D700 profifoto More Nikon D700 leaks with pictures!

Mind you, its in a different language (German if you can understand it) but its Google translation to the rescue!

Translated bits:

After Nikon with the full-format camera D3 in August 2007 is the first Nikon model with full small image sensor-Formar 24×36 mm that was now follows is not entirely unexpected, the D700. Derselbe 12-Megapixel-Sensor, augenscheinlich dasselbe 51-Punkt-Autofokussystem, etwas geringere Serienbildgeschwindigkeit (5 B/s statt 9 B/s – allerdings kann das mit Batterieteil auf 8 B/s gesteigert werden), Sucherbildfeld 95 statt 100 Prozent, dafür aber ein eingebauter Blitz (auch zur Drahtlos-Blitzsteuerung), ein Sensor-Reinigungssystem (dazu morgen mehr) und ein interessantes Preisschild: knapp 2600 Euro soll die Neue kosten und ab Ende Juli 2008 erhältlich sein. The same 12-megapixel sensor, apparently the same 51-point autofocus system, slightly lower image speed serial (5 B / s instead of 9 B / – however, the battery part to 8 B / s increase), the viewfinder field of 95 instead of 100 percent, but but a built-in flash (also for wireless flash control), a sensor-cleaning system (more about this tomorrow) and an interesting price tag: just under 2,600 euro, the new costs and from the end of July 2008 will be available.

Next is a flash Nikon SB-900 as a successor model of the SB-800, whose zoom reflector should be directed to focal lengths from 17-200 mm and in DX and FX sensors recruits, and in which the user firmware updates for the first time in a Nikon Lightning can even aufspielen.

Now, the first thing in people’s mind would be, “Is this another rumour?”. Well rumours tend to be true most of the time but upon closer inspect of the image on the magazine, you can see that one of the newer characteristics of the D700 is the viewfinder. Seems different from all of the other DX range of cameras.

So this is the best piece of news since they even mentioned that it will be out late July, perhaps a pre-empt strike against the upcoming Canon 5D MkII? Who knows but for one thing, everyone is waiting for the release of this baby.

D700 rumour was a fake???

Last week a hopeful image of the so called “Nikon D700” was “leaked” and the news spread like wildfire amongst photography sites, forums and personal blogs, mine included of course. This was a picture that was posted up on Engadget on the 25th of June. It looked really real and this is something that we might have predicted or imagine that a smaller full frame sensor Nikon camera would look like (to rival Canon’s 5D of course).

6 25 08 d700 D700 rumour was a fake???

That was posted on the 25th of June. It took only 2 whole days before the real news was unearthed. Yup, suspicions were true, it was just a photoshopped D300. I guess this is one of the banes of Photoshop! Grrrr.

d700 debunk shot with orig 2 D700 rumour was a fake???

The real image was actually up on Flickr over here. Here is the image of the original shot which was actually a Nikon D300 all the while. And no, it wasn’t my D300 that I shot!

2613106469 8376111ba8 D700 rumour was a fake???

Like the title says in the Flickr image, “Awwww….no D700 after all“.

I had my hopes up really high, only a couple of hours more before I can call this so called rumour that Nikon will make an announcement on the 30th of June a true blown rumour. Anyway I am sure a lot of people are still expecting an announcement from Nikon soon, whether it may be the D700 or the D90 or the D3x, who knows what Nikon has in store but for sure we would find out something by September.

My fingers are still crossed though. icon razz D700 rumour was a fake???

pixel D700 rumour was a fake???