Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Kelly & Josh

This morning, Kelly and Josh spent some time with me at the Morton Arboretum for their engagement session. Now I have to say, Josh was quite the trooper in dealing with my posing and re-posing... and re-posing... but hopefully he and Kelly will find that it was worth it in the end.

Here's a sample from this morning's shoot:






















Kelly and Josh, you two are a fantastic and fun couple, and I'm extremely excited about working with you on your wedding day!

Sunday, October 14, 2007

The Chicago Music Guide

Yesterday I had a meeting with some people involved with the Chicago Music Guide, including its founder, Dennis Kelly. It was great to finally meet everyone in reality, as I'd only 'met' them on myspace and via phone previously.

We met up at Uncommon Ground (which I LOVE, by the way), a place I feel is best known for a concert that Jeff Buckley had there a bit more than a decade ago. Since Jeff's death, they hold a tribute concert/evening every year on his would-be birthday. This year is the 10th anniversary of his passing. I'm hoping that I will be scheduled to shoot that show, as I've already put my request in for it.

Back to the meeting. We all shared ideas on how to make the guide more effective, and how to gain usage/readership. I truly feel that this is going to be something fantastic in the very near future, as it is fairly small currently. Dennis explained that this is his vision to help local musicians in Chicago. He also discussed the future of what we all hope will happen.

We're working on creating a benefit concert at the moment for breast cancer. We will be working in the future for other charities and such. We discussed events for AIDS, Autism and other foundations that could really use the fund raising.

Anyway, this meeting further exciting my teaming up with the guide. I cannot wait to continue shooting concerts with/for them!!! :)

Friday, October 12, 2007

Metamorphosis

I've taken quite a while to make the most recent of my decisions involving my photography business. I will start this off by saying it has been extremely daunting, but I've finally reached a conclusion:

I am switching from Nikon to Canon.

My good friend that I work with, Mike, has kindly loaned me his Canon gear to take for a test drive for a while. After only hours with the gear, I have decided that this will be the right move for me to make.

Now, I LOVE my Nikon gear. I've been extremely happy with the images I've been taking with my equipment. I've realized, however, that in order to keep up with the best of the best, I have to shoot with equipment that is to par with what they shoot with. Unfortunately, the only full frame Nikon camera available is very much out of my price range. Canon offers a fantastic product out of their 5D model, and has some fantastic glass to go along with it.

I have three hesitations in leaving Nikon, however. I LOVE my lenses. I realize that the fisheye lens that I have is one of a kind on the market, and am hoping that Canon comes out with one similar to it in the future.

Another hesitation is Nikon's flash unit - the SB800. I LOVE this flash. I have found it to be fairly accurate in color temperature, and have found it to be consistent in its performance. I've yet to use Canon's flashes, but in reviewing the flash units out there, I have found that Canon's flash units have consistently been ripped apart in comparison. Whether or not that's true is always going to remain an opinion. The one mind easer is that Metz makes flashes that have consistently scored higher 'points' than both Canon and Nikon. I've decided that it will be within my best interest to go with the Metz flash in the end.

The last thing making me kind of wince at this change is the money involved to switch. I have to have equipment available to me at all times... but at the same time, I pretty much need to sell all of my Nikon equipment to help fund this changeover. Even after doing so, it's still going to cost me a hefty sum to completely switch.

All in all, I know this is the right decision. I've already been turned down several jobs because of the equipment I have... It's time for me to rid myself of my 'handicap.' It's just unfortunate that such a reputable company with a great product is looked at as such.