Model - Gabrielle

Model Shoot with Gabrielle | Wellington Wedding and Portrait Photographer | Kent Photography

Last week we had an opportunity to photo shoot at Mermaid. Courtesy to Mermaid for lending us their venue for this shoot. It was a bit of a tough one to bring all the lighting gear to the place. Our setup was simple with two light sources, a combination of beauty dish and soft box. For this photo shoot, we have used Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8, 50mm f/1.4, 85mm f/1.4 and 70-200mm f/2.8 VR as our primary set of lens.

Mermaid – our photo shoot venue for the day

Gabrielle our model for the day was a pleasure to work. While we were busy setting up the lighting gear, Veronica our makeup artist was equally busy doing makeup with Gabrielle.

 

Our behind the scenes at Mermaid

 

 

Here are some final images that we are very happy with.

Then it was back to the studio for a quick studio shoot assisting Zian to finish off the day.

A very quick rundown on how we set up the studio lighting for this shoot – A simple beauty dish strobes from the top ~8 ft high and an umbrella off the floor to light up the beautiful dress.

A simple two lights set up but works brilliantly. Behind the scenes of the studio shoot.

 

Some final images of the studio shoot.

 

 

 

Sophie & Danny's Wedding

Sophie & Danny’s Wedding | Wellington Wedding and Portrait Photographer | Kent Photography

For the last few weeks, I have been busy with weddings and model shoots. Hopefully I can bring you those images very soon. We had a long wedding shoot a couple of weeks back. Congratulation to Sophie and Danny on their big day. The wedding was held in Wellington at the beautiful Old St. Paul Church then carried on at the Gear Homestead for the reception. Our coverage of the memorable day involves both of videographer and photographers. First let's look at what equipment we have actually used on the wedding day,

• Nikon D700
• Nikon D3
• Nikon 16mm f/2.8 fisheye
• Nikon Holy Trinity - Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8, Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8 and Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8 VRII
• Nikon 17-35mm f/2.8
• Nikon 50mm f/1.4
• Nikon 85mm f/1.4
• Nikon 105mm f/2.8 VR
• Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8 VRII
• Nikon SB-800
• Nikon SB-900

That's an extensive amount of gear used.

From my experience, what camera gear do I recommend for weddings? Nikon D3 + Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8 + Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8 VRII + Nikon 85mm f/1.4 and SB-900.

Hope you enjoy the images on this special day. I know we did.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks Zian for teaming up :D

Where can I find the equipment seen on this site?

If you find this site useful and planning to purchase any of the equipment seen on this site, please show your support by purchasing your photo equipment at B&H Photo Video or through any of the affiliate links seen on this site.

Off Camera Flash with 2 x Nikon SB-900

A few months back, I wrote about off camera flash technique which is much more preferred than having your flash fixed on to your hot shoe. You are most certain to achieve better lighting result if you have your flash off the camera. The new Nikon SB-700 can now be used as a commander to allow you to trigger remote speedlights, so you no longer need to own a Nikon’s flagship speedlight such as SB-800 and SB-900 to have this commander function.

2 x Nikon SB-900 in remote mode, triggered by Nikon D700 onboard flash

Basically there are many ways to set up off camera flash.

Method 1: Most  Nikon’s DSLR can use the onboard flash as a commander to wirelessly trigger remote flashes. This is an area which Nikon does better than Canon :D. All you have to do is go to menu and look for flash control for built in flash (eg:menu e3 for Nikon D700) and set it to commander and then set your off camera flashes to "remote” with the right channel settings. The onboard flash will then act as the commander to trigger the remote flashes.

Method 2: Instead of using onboard flash as the commander, you can either use a SU-800, SB-700, SB-800 or SB-900 which can all be switched to commander mode.

Method 3: Use an off camera remote cable such as Nikon SC-28 or SC-29.

Here is an image taken in a recent wedding using off camera flash. I used method 2 in this case where I trigger a SB-800 using a SB-900.

You can tell by the shadow that the remote flash is positioned on my right.

Where can I find the equipment seen on this site?

If you find this site useful and planning to purchase any of the equipment seen on this site, please show your support by purchasing your photo equipment at B&H Photo Video or through any of the affiliate links seen on this site.

Wellington Cantonese Opera - Shooting with Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8 VRII and TC-14E

A few day ago, I shot a Chinese stage theatre using the best Nikon combo; Nikon D3 + 70-200mm f/2.8 VRII and Nikon D700 + 24-70mm f/2.8. Why did I choose to put the 70-200mm f/2.8 on the D3 and not the 24-70mm f/2.8? It is simply because I want to minimise the weight as I shoot mostly using the 70-200mm f/2.8 VRII. Putting it on D3 weights a bit less compares to putting it on the D700 + MB-D10 grip. Also I brought along the Nikon TC-14E to give me those head shots show casting the stunning face painting. While I am not familiar with Chinese Opera and this is the first time I have been to one, I am honoured to experience the tradition culture through the lens.

Here are some back stage images of the day.

When I arrived I did some light metering and luckily the stage wasn't as dim as I anticipated. I was able to settle at ISO1600 to keep the aperture at f/4 and shutter speed at 1/100s - 1/200s. I was shooting from the second row. Here is a shot showing the stage lights and the distance to the audiences.

Shooting with the 70-200mm, I could frame the full body at 200mm from where I was at and with the use of the TC-14E (1.4x teleconverter), I was able to achieve a much tighter shot (about half body), but limited to aperture f/4 only. I was very impressed with the contrast and sharpness of the images, the AF was fast and VRII worked exceptionally.

Here are some images taken on the night.

Here is a collection of the characters portrayed during the Opera - Taken using the 70-200mm f/2.8 VRII + TC-14E. I didn't feel any performance or image quality disadvantage when fitted with the TC-14E, however, I didn't pixel peep or did any lab test either.