Take & Talk Pics

Photo World how often do you bring your camera with you? On your daily commute do you  leave time for each drive in case you stumble across a perfect picture waiting to be captured? How many times do you have an idea for a shot or even see a great scene and don't take the time to capture it? Annoying questions I know the answer to, because I have the same answers.

How often do I bring my camera: Sometimes - Almost Never

On my daily commute do I leave additional time: Rarely

Do I take the time to capture it: Once in a blue moon

If you are the type of person that always brings a camera with you then great! There are 171 other great episodes to listen to. If you are the type of person that wants their photography business to start or wants their current business to improve than listen up. This episode is for you; it is all about the side projects. Hopefully motivating you to never leave your camera at home again!

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2015 © Take&TalkPics

Silence to Success

Photo World I almost feel stupid making an episode like this. From Silence to Success... What kind of joke is that? I suggest to you that being quiet will help you success (I stand behind that logic) and I spend 10 minutes or so talking on a podcast you regularly listen too. It seems as though I have no idea what I'm talking about here. Photo World, basically I want to ingrain this idea of quiet. You lean when you listen, you even lean by accident when you hear, and so many of us have more to say than we know what to do with. Just listen and see what I mean.

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2015 © Take&TalkPics

Whats In My Bag Part 13

Finally the lenses and cameras are all accounted for and there really is more to talk about in my bag. Before I dive into this I need to go off on a small tangent and say Happy Tax Day! Okay "happy" feels out of place but it is important to remember that even the smallest of photography businesses need to think about their taxes. I have two small tips: do them on time and be 100% honest about everything. People try to cut corners and it is not worth it just like that one episode talked about. So back to the bag... Flash, Speedlight, Flashgun, Strobe, whatever you call it we are talking about the same idea; artificial lighting. We can shape it, direct it, modify it, and use it in just about any capacity under any shooting condition, maybe not the light I am talking about today but lighting in general. Today's featured gear is the Nikon SB-600 AF Speedlight. It's a helpful accessory but I have a few things to say about it. Listen to today's episode for the real thoughts.

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2015 © Take&TalkPics

Inverse-Square Law

I don't want to get crazy technical and then lose half of my audience because this one episode feels more like a math class than a photography podcast. So I will keep this simple. However far your subject is to your light source that is your base, if you double the distance between your light source and subject you end up with one quarter the amount of light power reaching the subject. There are a couple reasons why the distance between your subject and light source would change and more often than not it is to adjust the softness (or hardness) of the light. When we talk about hard or soft light we are really talking about how sharp or blurred the shadows are. The closer your light to a subject the softer the shadows and vice versa, the farther your light to your subject the harder the shadows. Yes distance is playing a role in the softness or sharpness of the shadows but more so it is the size of the light source from the relative perspective of the subject itself. Listen to the episode I think it is more easily explained than writing it all out here.

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2015 © Take&TalkPics

For the dozenth episode with Whats In My Bag I want to go over my last and final lens in my bag. The AF-S Nikkor 50mm f/1.4G Nikon lens, is a beautiful prime lens with that familiar focal length to match the way we see. 50mm on a Full Frame camera is the same perspective as the human eye without the peripherals. Some of you may have a cropped sensor and a 35mm lens to closely match this effect. If you want more info on sensor sizes check out my episode on that over subject over here. I will say the f1.4 + a FX sensor you get a crazy shallow Depth of Field and really bring out the subjects from the background. I love the soft backgrounds you get with such a huge aperture like f/1.4 or even larger like f/1.2, although the price difference between those may not be worth the jump. This is one of 2 prime lenses I have and I seem to forget to use it very often. With wedding photography I find zoom lenses to be more forgiving for the job.

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2015 © Take&TalkPics

Monday Message - Ask The Question

Hey Photo World, what is on your mind? We all have questions but how often do you hold back from asking? There is a common fear that comes with appearing to be uninformed. It happens so often that we miss out of a step forward because we hold ourselves back. Today's episode is a camera buying experience that took a major turn because I asked a question. It kills me when my students have nothing to say in class and then one approaches me after our class meeting to ask a question. Sure it is great for them to seek out the answer but there are many times when another student makes a mistake that would have been corrected from that question being brought up during our class time. It is not the fault of either student but the fear of asking for information surrounded by others who may pass judgement. When I was in school I never asked anything. I didn't want to look stupid being the 1 who asked the question. By the time I got to ISU I could care less and I made so few mistakes because I had the guts to ask. Listen to this one no matter who you are, we all deal with this problem.

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2015 © Take&TalkPics

Whats In My Bag part 11

Nikon has been on a role for the past 4-5 years. It seem like they are able to out do the last camera by a 75% increase of awesomeness over the previous. I have to say the fourth and final camera in my bag is a beast and an amazing addition to my setup. The Nikon D810 is a mind blowing 36 megapixels of clean 12,800 ISO with a solid weather sealed build hosting a comfortable fit that makes you feel at home. The ISO isn't as clean as the Nikon D4, D4s, or D5 but you have more than double the resolution of the D4 and D4s sitting at 16 megapixels. I know the vertical grip was great on the D4 I had (frown face) so I made sure to make up that problem with adding the grip to this D810. As a bonus with the vertical grip you can squeeze a few more frames per second out of it. I grew a custom to the 11 frames per second on the Nikon D4 but the D810 hovers around 4.5-5fps... that grip pushes you to almost 8fps. I can live with that; especially as a wedding photographer. I tendt to under shoot most other wedding photographers anyway. What could I really do with 8fps anyway.

I LOVE THIS CAMERA!- I feel like this is the camera to help me get over the loss of my Nikon D4

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2016 © Take&TalkPics

Whats In My Bag part 10

First off know your purchase. Be sure about the gear being gray market or USA and research what that means for you. The prices will be dramatically different but that doesn’t mean one is better than the other, it is something to think about. That being said I am blown away by the Nikon D750. It is by far the best camera for the price on the market today. Yes someday soon it will be replaced and beaten but this camera has so much packed into it and a reasonable price to justify it. I am a pro photographer who wanted to have a solid second body in the bag and this one is my second for if I am ever in a bind. However the D750 makes an appearance at just about every job I do because I love this thing. I have been working my way into the video world and the D750 is an outstanding camera for video. The clarity of the image is beautiful and the colors render to what is true. I can co on about this camera and share samples all day long but I would say if you are interested in this camera listen to Take & Talk Pics episode 166 (April 9, 2016) for a full review of this camera. I have had it for only two weeks now and I am not missing my old cameras at all. If you are pro I would look at the D810 but you can easily run a pro level business with the D750. – TakeAndTalkPics.com photography blog/podcast

I LOVE THIS CAMERA! - VALUE! VALUE! VALUE!

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2016 © Take&TalkPics

Whats In My Bag part 9

For today's equipment to discuss I have to offer a small warning: I may sound braggy because I am head over heels obsessed with the camera I have to talk about. I'm talking about my baby, my pride and joy, the Nikon D4. She is a perfect balance between beautiful and ferocious. This camera could hold up clean at 12,800 ISO and not miss a beat with those 11 frames per second in full 14 bit uncompressed RAW. Yeah there is no flash to have pop up but when you hold this beast you shouldn't even consider a pop up flash anyway. The D4 is rated for 400,000 shots and I hardly made a dent so far. On the one hand I would love to retire this camera when it is time and see it on a shelf greeting me as I enter my office but there is a lot of value ($) left in her and I can use that for future gear. Okay enough nonsense... listen to the episode for a real chat about this amazing camera.

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2016 © Take&TalkPic

Whats In My Bag part 8

I'm finally moving on to the next section of my bag. THE CAMERAS! I still have some glass to go over but that is for another day. This first camera is not a pro level body but it serves it's purpose well. I originally purchased the camera to sell off an old Nikon D70s and have this new one as a backup to my Nikon D300 (also gone). I am talking about my Nikon D7000. I found myself mostly using it for the video function. Although, the video quality is nothing to write home about compared to the video capabilities of today's DSLRs. The D7000 is a cropped sensor camera (DX) with 16.2 megapixels. I wasn't opposed the the camera when I purchased it and it was perfect for what I needed at the time and the price was about $1200. That may seem like a lot of money for some but as a pro this camera was more than fair for what you got. I especially like the dual memory card slots. Great for shooting RAWs on one and backup JPEGs on the other.

Happy Shooting!

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2016 © Take&TalkPic