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Finished a day long shoot for a company, then decided to see if a friend was available. She was. So we shot for about an hour and a half. Photos almost as-is SOOC (didn't remove hair and whatever). C/C welcome.
Fantastic shots - The 200 f/2 is an incredible lens (D4 is not bad either :-) ) However, we all know gear is only part of the equation. Kudos to you - Mazerunner.
All on manual mode with easy compensation with 10k ISO limit. (EXIF data enabled now.) She literally had less than 30 minutes to dress up and do her own makeup, and she didn't want to shoot downtown (where I saw a few neato spots)!
All were lit with ambient except for the last one (or last two). I asked Rachel's other friend (have photos of her as well) to hold my Ranger strobe bare pointed up. Got off a small number of flashes before a hired guard said no (usually, it's a no-tripod and no-light stand policy at Lincoln center... I was using NEITHER).
@sanjayg: Equipment helps, but so does an attractive lady.
The light in number two is just extraordinary. It's amazing when you hit it just right how perfect ambient light can be.
Plus, the pose in that one is perfection.
I love how you used the light in all of these shots, including the OCF in the last two. Just makes her pop beautifully against the natural light bg. I think fill light could have helped with her dark hair in 1 and 2, but may have taken away from the natural look you got there.
I am curious, though, why you shot at 10,000 ISO when you were shooting at 1/800. Why not shoot at a slower shutter speed and bring the ISO down?
friscoron wrote:
I love how you used the light in all of these shots, including the OCF in the last two. Just makes her pop beautifully against the natural light bg. I think fill light could have helped with her dark hair in 1 and 2, but may have taken away from the natural look you got there.
I am curious, though, why you shot at 10,000 ISO when you were shooting at 1/800. Why not shoot at a slower shutter speed and bring the ISO down?
I shot for about 8 hours the entire day (company headshots + product + scenes) prior to shooting Rachel. With a lens like the 200/2 handheld (a tripod/monopod would've had me kicked out), it's hard to get a sharp shot even at 1/250 and VR in the dark, especially if I'm 40-50 feet away taking a full-body shot. I usually set to 1/500 with VR or faster when shooting at night, as I found that shooting any slower kills the keeper rate of photos by about 70-80% (more blur). I upped it to 1/800 because I knew I was tiring a bit. And I definitely don't mind the grain or loss of DR.
The 200/2 has a few different rules because of it's weight and sharpness (just blows the 70-200/2.8 VR II out of the water at 200mm).
Wow, that's really interesting. Fits in exactly with my thoughts on my 70-200, and I've been thinking hard for about six months about getting the 200 f/2. Ugh. Hate spending money, but your comments are pushing me a little harder.
friscoron wrote:
Wow, that's really interesting. Fits in exactly with my thoughts on my 70-200, and I've been thinking hard for about six months about getting the 200 f/2. Ugh. Hate spending money, but your comments are pushing me a little harder.
The 200/2 really does give that extra little pop with the sharpness and shallower DOF. I would honestly say I've barely used my 70-200/2.8 after getting my 200/2. Even for events, seriously. I've grown that fond of it.
It just renders beautifully and the OOF drop-off is gorgeous. But it is about 10 lbs. with a D4... so if you're handholding it for a shoot, you should be able to curl at least 35-40 lb. dumbbells. Else you'll not be able to appreciate it too much.
Plus, it pays for itself with the portrait/shoots I book with it.
I shoot with a D4 as well, so I get what you're talking about with the weight. It's a hefty pricetag, almost like buying a second new D4. But I've love the images I've seen with it. You're obviously doing an amazing job at finding the light and making it work so well for you, doesn't do any good at all to have that lens and not be able to understand the light.
