p.1 #1 · First Urban Portrait Series Shoot of Season-Out in the Woods
Hi all. Nikon was kind enough to send me a 200mm f/2 lens to play with for a couple weeks, and naturally the weather was pretty crappy here in the Chicago 'burbs most of the time. I went ahead and planned for an Urban Portrait Series shoot, and luckily enough, it was the best day of the year so far. The last shots will show a side by side comparison of SOOC shots from a 70-200 and the 200 mm lens shot at 200mm with the same settings.
I usually don't do these shoots with dancers as young as a HS freshman such as Hannah here, but I did a recent shoot in my studio with the local high school dance team, and she was clearly the leader and most talented dancer.
These are all new locations that I found, so it was fun to shoot in brand new environments. We were dealing with a hazy sunny early evening.
8. SOOC. 1:1 size so you can see the focus of the 200mm vs the 70-200mm, Pretty confident I got the focus points I wanted on both of these. Sorry about shoving those armpits into your eyes, but that happened to be the shot I chose to use for the side by side comparison. 200mm on the left, 70-200mm on the right. http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7376/26901618786_0b32c40ae6_b.jpg
p.1 #2 · First Urban Portrait Series Shoot of Season-Out in the Woods
I can see that the 70-200 shot has more contrast SOOC. Was this the 200mm f/2 VR I or II?
Even though the 200mm f/2 was stopped down to f2.8, I see the background is mildly better than the 70-200 (not surprising, I still have the 200 f/2 but sold the 70-200). 70-200 image is a bit smaller possibly due to focus breathing.
Your dance shots are always impeccably timed, always enjoy your pictures. Thank you for showing this side-by-side demo of two really nice lenses. The 2nd one (silhouette) is amazing.
p.1 #7 · First Urban Portrait Series Shoot of Season-Out in the Woods
Vcook wrote:
1 is artistic and I like it. 2 is fabulous.
3-7 feel cropped too loosely in my opinion. 6 would be amazing with a tighter crop, the height she got with the photo timing is awesome.
Thanks! If anything, I'd crop wider, not tighter. I like these as environmental portraits in which the dancer is an element. For me, when you come in too tight, it just becomes a shot about the dancer, and then I might as well be in my studio.
p.1 #8 · First Urban Portrait Series Shoot of Season-Out in the Woods
coreybell wrote:
The silhouette is amazing. I still really like the reflection photo. Great work.!
Thanks, Corey. I"m a sucker for sunset silhouettes, and it's so hard to find a good spot here in the Chicago 'burbs. Living so long in the Southwest, it was so easy to do a sunset shot. Really miss that.
p.1 #9 · First Urban Portrait Series Shoot of Season-Out in the Woods
jodo wrote:
So you're keeping the lens, right?
Always enjoy your DIF shots, Ron.
Thanks, jodo! Nope, just sent it back today. I used it for a few shoots, including a senior portrait session, and I do really like it. It's obviously a grade above the 70-200 in IQ and especially the dynamic range. I just need to have a really kick-ass year before I can afford splurging for that.
p.1 #13 · First Urban Portrait Series Shoot of Season-Out in the Woods
Nice shots. I do have a question. Why 1250 ISO and 2000sec shutter. Why not lower ISO and maybe 1000sec shutter which is still very fast. Tell me what I am missing. Thanks
p.1 #14 · First Urban Portrait Series Shoot of Season-Out in the Woods
jefferies1 wrote:
Nice shots. I do have a question. Why 1250 ISO and 2000sec shutter. Why not lower ISO and maybe 1000sec shutter which is still very fast. Tell me what I am missing. Thanks
With the D4, there's no noise at ISO 1250. If anything, it's just less contrasty and that's more of the look I was wanting in that shot. Plus, with the weight of the 200mm lens, I just felt better having a faster shutter speed. I can shoot the 70-200 at 1/30 of a second, even 1/20 no problem, but the 200mm is substantially heavier and I just didn't want there to be any chance of motion.
p.1 #15 · First Urban Portrait Series Shoot of Season-Out in the Woods
You do great work so take what I say with a grain of salt
Personally, I like the exposure better on the 70-200 shot. Obviously you could just drop the exposure on the 200mm image a bit and even come back and lighten the girl a little bit if that leaves the skin tones underexposed. Otherwise no doubt that 200mm is shining!
p.1 #16 · First Urban Portrait Series Shoot of Season-Out in the Woods
Even with both lenses at f/2.8, the bokeh on the 200mm is dreamier to me. I like how the 200mm handles the dynamic range of light and shadow better than the 70-200. The differences are palpable to me. However, for me, is it really worth only being able to shoot at 200mm? When I did the shot of Hannah jumping on the bridge, I couldn't go any farther back. I was standing on the edge of the stream. I forget what focal length I was at, but it was probably around 180mm. With the 200mm, standing there, the shot would have been cropped too tightly for my liking. So it's really not an easy answer.
Nexu wrote:
You do great work so take what I say with a grain of salt
Personally, I like the exposure better on the 70-200 shot. Obviously you could just drop the exposure on the 200mm image a bit and even come back and lighten the girl a little bit if that leaves the skin tones underexposed. Otherwise no doubt that 200mm is shining!
p.1 #17 · First Urban Portrait Series Shoot of Season-Out in the Woods
Great pictures, as always, Ron. Thanks for showing the lens comparison. And if that 200 f/2 is headed back to the East Coast, maybe it could stop here in Michigan for a few days. Oh, darn, I'm a Canon shooter.
My favorites are the silhouette and the leap on the bridge.
p.1 #20 · First Urban Portrait Series Shoot of Season-Out in the Woods
Ron,
I am not a Nikon guy so I'll just comment on my favorite.
The atheticism displayed in the 6th shot is incredible. If you get to work with her again in the studio, I can envision it with a black background ND some colored accent light. As is, i also like that She looks like she is flying over rthe bridge.
