Oct
23

Nikon D750 Review: Downgrading from the D800

**First: shoutout to BongoBytes.com for fulfilling my order when – seemingly – all other resellers were backordered =)

UPDATE!!

As of October 24th, my D750 needs to go in for repair =( The rear lcd is functioning intermittently. It stopped functioning while shooting dusk at the beach. It started cutting in and out as I returned home. It also happened in the morning when it was foggy. It has worked fine over the past 24 hours, though. After reading the warning message in the manual and thinking about the situation in which it initially stopped functioning, I’m left wondering if the dewey, moisture filled, post-sunset air at the beach caused the issue. I really hope not, as that would be an indicator in a major design flaw. The screen never left its home resting position while shooting which means the monitor cable was not exposed. The warning message in the manual is very ominous and slightly concerning given my situation that is stopped working in a humid environment and but has been working in dryer environments. I very likely may be crying wolf here. I truly hope so.

D750 monitor warning

D750 monitor warning

 

Intro

This is going to be a multi-part review that builds as my experience with the Nikon D750 increases. My initial impressions will be largely based upon my observations of the difference in the shooting-experience between the Nikon D800 and the D750.  I’ve been shooting with the D800 since around June of 2012 and the D700 for many years before that and have a very good hand on the functions, operations, and button layout of those cameras. The transition from the D700 to the D800 was a rather seamless one, as the camera bodies were nearly identical. The transition from the D800 or D700 to the D750 is not as seamless – from a button layout perspective. They are two entirely different bodies and provide entirely different experiences. Later in the review I’ll discuss how your experiences might be affected as a wedding/event, portrait, landscape, and architectural photographer.  Read More

Feb
4

Sunrise on Elephant Rock

It was just shy of a year ago that two friends and I ventured out to Nevada’s Valley Of Fire State Park. We left our hotel on the strip in Vegas about 90 mins before sunrise and began the hour long drive to the park that non of us had ever visited.  A little searching on Google set our sights on Elephant Rock. Navigating in the dark in a previously unexplored place and looking for a specific rock formation proved to be quite difficult! But we found it! Or did we?!

We actually did not stop at the official Elephant Rock – though we were certain that we had.  The rock formation undoubtably looked like an elephant.  Notice the ‘trunk’ that creates the arch and the floppy ear that is just exiting the frame at the top of the photograph. It wasn’t until after we left the park and I did some more research that we realized we had “missed the spot.”  Oh well!  This spot was absolutely incredible!

We arrived just before sunrise, and I had just moments to set up my tripod and compose the photo.  There is a lot that goes into the setup of photographing a landscape: view scene, determine composition, choose appropriate lens for the correct field of view, mount lens to camera, setup tripod, mount camera to tripod, compose frame, level camera, analyze depth of field, set appropriate aperture, set focus for the foreground, determine and set shutter speed.  Racing against the clock to get all set to capture at just the right moment creates quite an exciting rush.  It is a rush that motivates us to overcome the the strong arms of our beds pulling us back in as our alarm clocks blair at 4:30am!  In the end, it is usually worth it.  This was no exception.

Apr
10

Avalanche Pass

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Adirondacks, NY

This truly is a spectacular place…and a great hike! This was captured on my very first trip to the location in August 2008 with an invite from Bill Amadon.   Read More

Mar
30

McWay Falls

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Big Sur, CA