Paul Wilkinson Photography Blog

One of the great er… joys of bringing a new camera online is that you have an entirely new set of operating parameters to get familiar with. Our new Nikon D3 is something of a revelation really, with unbelievably beautiful tones and an almost impossibly low level of noise – even in near-darkness. However, it also does things slightly differently to our D2Xs’s, particularly when it comes to the exposure and focus.

So, whenever new equipment is required, I like to run a quick session with someone (who isn’t paying for the privilege!) just to make sure everything is second nature and I don’t need to be worrying while on a commercial session. I also really enjoy doing it as there’s no pressure, we can just go and shoot (just like it should be!)

Coral very kindly agreed (again!) to come and be my target for a few hours this morning. Over the years, we’ve actually photographed Coral quite a bit both as a client and as a volunteer when I wanted/needed to try something unfamiliar, and she is one of those subjects who a) always photographs exceptionally well and b) is VERY intelligent/funny/charismatic to have around. Which helps when I’m busily trying to work out why the multi-segment metering is over-exposing by a fraction.

Anyway, I wanted to put the camera through its paces in both a studio situation with our radio triggers and flash (this can be temperamental – our D2Xs’s sync to the flashes at a different shutter speed than the new D3: the manual doesn’t bother to let you know this…) and out in the village. The light is absolutely stunning at the moment so this was just a fantastic way to spend a Sunday morning.

I reckon we’ve caught some absolutely gorgeous images of Coral and I’m feeling quite smuggly satisfied – though it does have to be said that she is quite clearly an easy subject to work with (and the D3 is almost effortless in capturing unbelievably smooth skin tones). Nonetheless, a morning’s work well done and one new camera ready to roll!

Enjoy!

This entry was posted on Monday, February 11th, 2008, 12:51 am and is filed under For Website, Lifestyle. You can follow any responses to this entry through RSS 2.0. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.