Scout Images

I had a bit of fun today with the images of the Peugoet 206 GTX that I shot last night (refer here). More for my own amusement I changed some colours around.

Taken with my Nikon D300, Nikkor AF-S 24-70mm f/2.8, NEF processed through Capture NX2 and then editing done in Photoshop CS2.

The original image as shot, minor retouch to clean up ground

Lightened up

Blue GT stripes…because red doesnt agree with everyone

Black GT stripes….just for fun

I had an interesting day photographically. This morning I headed over to a friends place to have my widened by the many different coffee’s available. Being an occasional coffee drinker, I knew there were different types of coffees but didnt realise how different they are.

Much later this evening I shot my friends car. This car has been his pride and joy for the last 18months slowly being converted from a stock standard Peugeot 206 to a mean little show car with a bark and a bite that he has dubbed the “GTX”. However he is moving on and will be selling the car to finance something a bit larger and more practical to his changing needs. For these photos I used a variety of lenses (AF-S 24-70mm f/2.8, AF-S 70-200mm f/2.8 VR, Tokina 10-17mm fisheye) on my Nikon D300. Lighting was provided by my trusty Wolfeyes Defender 260 and my SB-800 and SB-600 speedlights.

I was informed that my work for Alley Cabaret has been published once again. It is not the most prominent publication, but it is very satisfying to see my work being in a paper.

Here is a PDF print out of the relevant page.

Finally found a few minutes to upload some photos from Alley Cabarets’ 1920’s Chicago, for those who went I am sure they will agree with me that it was a great show, for those who missed out, well you MISSED OUT!

These were taken using my trusty D300 and S5 Pro, for more details of what gear was used, please refer to this thread.

I was just preparing for another shoot (for tomorrow night) this is once again for Alley Cabaret, but this time it is for an actual performance, I have it confirmed unlike last time when it was a last minute call up. There are a number of important things to keep in mind here:

• low light
• action
• audience

This means that I will need a kit that will allow me to be mobile and not disturb the paying audience. Low light and action means I will have to be ready to tackle the giant problem of needing to balance the ambience and the movement to deliver good photos.

To address this situation will be bringing out the big guns:

• Nikon D300 + MB-D10 – my workhorse; provides fast and accurate AF and good high ISO performance
• Fuji S5 Pro – my backup; provides dependable colour accuracy and good high ISO with good AF
• Zoom Nikkor AF-S 24-70mm f/2.8 – my main lens; fast,  silent, sharp and bright with a good range
• Zoom Nikkor AF-S 70-200mm f/2.8 VR – my long lens; fast, silent, sharp, bright and has the extra reach for when I cant get close
• Nikkor AF-D 50mm f/1.8 – just in case; sharp and very bright this prime lens is always close at hand
• Tamron SP 17-50mm f/2.8 – for the wide; sharp and bright this lens will allow me to get the wider shots and backs up for the 24-70 in the unlikely case of equipment failure
• Nikon SB-800 – provides extra light and aids AF
• Nikon SB-600 – provides extra light and aids AF

This will allow me to enjoy the convenience of two cameras and give me the insurance of having at least one camera in the unlikely case that I have equipment fail on me. In order to get the gear to the venue I will be carrying it all in my trusty LowePro Vertex 200AW. When I get to the venue I will unpack and set up my cameras and spend most of the night roaming with a camera on either shoulder, heading back to my bag to change lenses as I need them.

Just wanted to let you all know that Alley Cabaret is using one of my photos on their poster:

It is great to have a good excuse to go and take some photos, tonight I will be going to snap away for a group of friends performance at a local pub/hotel. It will be indoors, lighting will be questionable and I am not sure what to the stage setup will be like. Due to the short notice I have not had the opportunity to scout out the venue. My solution:

• Nikon D300 + MB-D10 – my workhorse, good at higher ISOs, great all rounder
• Fujifilm Finepix S5 Pro – my backup, good at high ISOs, unrivalled for colour
• Nikkor AF-S 24-70mm f/2.8 – fast and reliable it will cover me for anything that is shorter
• Nikkor AF-S 70-200mm F/2.8 VR – fast and reliable it will give me the reach that I will possibly need
• Nikkor AF-D 85mm f/1.8 – just incase I need that extra light gathering ability (thanks Brian for lending this to me on such short notice)
• Tamron SP 17-50mm f/2.8 – fast, light and most importantly wider than my 24-70 this lens will come out if I need something wider.
• Nikon SB-800 – for when I need that extra light
• Nikon SB-600 – for when I need that extra light
• Manfrotto 680B + 234RC – if I need some extra stability

All carried in my Vertex 200AW, not the best event bag, but it lets me carry everything securely and comfortably.

Fingers crossed all goes well and photos will come up in the next few days.

Just an example of what I have done with a simliar kit.

What a good way to kick off the new year! A job for the University of Sydney Union, here are some of the images from the day. For a link to the full album please email me at: scout@scout-images.com