Amber Wilkie Photography » Wedding and Portrait Photographer - Arlington, VA and Washington, DC

Monthly Archives: December 2010

The “kit”: D3, 24-70 2.8 and 70-200 2.8

You’ll have to forgive me this post because it’s probably going to get very technical.  This weekend I’ve rented what I consider to be the “wedding kit” – a full-frame body with excellent low-noise high-ISO capacity – here the Nikon D3.  This combination of lenses totally blows me away compared with what I normally use.  I have a nickname for my regular gear, too – my “bang around” stuff.  Not that there is anything wrong with the Nikon D80.  In most cases, you wouldn’t even be able to tell the difference between the two cameras.  It’s when things get tricky that the camera really shines.  Like here:

christmas wreath on our door
ISO: 3200!, 1/25 s, f/2.8, 70mm

This image would probably not happen at all with my D80.  It’s just too dark in my apartment hallway to get something sharp.

wreath detail from the hallway

70mm and 24mm of the same scene:

mm examples

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Playing with Strobes

self-portrait with studio lightsWhen my husband leaves for any amount of time, there’s a good chance I’ll turn to my strobes for entertainment.  My studio lights are oldies but goodies and they are powerful suckers.  I think the strobes appeal to me so much because I can do all kinds of goofy stuff, be properly exposed, and be inside my house.  If I tried to get all these shots using daylight, everybody would see me and that would be really embarrassing.  I get to show only the best stuff here.  For instance, you’re not going to see my unsuccessful jumping shots where my shirt flew up and my big belly was jiggling mid-flight.  Yup, I’ll keep those under wraps (in the trash bin).

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