Which Camera?!?!?!

Once in a while I get a question or two about photography, so I figured I may as well answer them in posts so the masses (all two of you) will get to read my words of recently acquired (and usually quite plagiarized) words of wisdom.

Question (not the exact words):

Dear photographer of extreme talent, much humility, and understated elegance,

I am interested in getting into photography a bit (or upgrading to a DSLR). What does the great moment capturer and pontificator have to recommend?

Yours truly,
Bobby Dooley

Answer:

That is a wonderful question Mr. (Mrs.?) Dooley, although I do take issue with some of your accolades, if you would be able to see my face (no one has since I was 15) you may see a hint of a blush.

Being that I have the (mostly) unhelpful tendency to read way too much (instead of just going out and shooting), I do end up knowing more about photography and cameras than I know how to actually take pictures.

I could go through all the pros and cons of different cameras and camera companies, but that would be boring and the end result will be the same.

So here's your answer Bobby: Buy yourself a used Nikon D90 (for around 500 buckaroos), a used Nikkor 35mm f/1.8 DX ($170), a used Nikkor 18-70mm (around $140) and a used Nikkor 50mm f/1.8D lens ($80). If you could only get one lens, get the 35mm.

A great place to buy used camera gear is Fredmiranda.com. You have to register (free) but it's worth the time. Do not buy a used camera body on craigslist unless you know what to look for. Lens are cool though.

Why buy used you ask? Cameras (especially lens) hold their value extremely well, and if you don't like what you got or want to upgrade you could always sell for the price you paid.

Why Nikon? Good question. I'll answer that in another post. (Basically better autofocus, better ISO (sometimes), better build, and more lens to choose from (including a whole slew of awesome and cheap manual focus lens))

Why the D90 and not one of the newer Dx000 series? the D90 has a built in focus motor so it works with a much larger variety of lens. The dx000 only work with the newer AF-S, which cost a lot more and many times are not any better.

Whats a post without pics (you ask)? Another good question. So here are some photos from a wonderful session we had in Agoura hills (I think).

I think she was dancing here. Quite a fun girl this one was.

Focusing while swinging, not for the faint of heart (nor for the Canon owners :))

repeat after me: smaller apertures, smaller apertures, smaller apertures. Good.

Love the faces this one was making.

Wood: High in starch, unessential amino acids, handprints and zinc.

Kids and funny faces. It's a part of growing up (once you grow up it becomes adults and funny faces)

I love, love, love this one.

Whatcha snappin' at Mr. Bearded man? (Hey missy, I'll have none of your adolescent smart-rear end talk. It's Rabbi Bearded man to you)

Me like. (smaller apertures!!! @##$%#@%$#*%)

Gotta lov her hair.

Mother Daughter

Impish I-Got-Mommy's-Coffee look

Getting into the square format a bit

Film!!!!

More film!!! (I'll post about what and why another time)

I need to do more of this. Get a bit more of the environment in, I need some wider lens(es?)...

Couldn't resist the color combo.

Any more questions? Email me or leave a comment.

Have y'all a good day (who cares if it doesn't make sense. Life hardly makes sense anyways).

Eli Chaim's Upshernish Invitation

Oh my, this one is old. Just posting for completeness' sake. (Also because it seems, that for some odd reason, much of my traffic is driven from people searching for "upshernish invitation" on google).

This was designed for my bro's son (photography not by me, and the aleph beis is a pic of a poster my wife made:)).

Enjoy.

And if your interested I have a special shoot + invitation deal. Shoot me an email for details.

Huntington Beach Central Park Shoot

Okaaaaay. Someone needs a beer.

I'm going to shorten this post.

Few weeks back.
Awesome shoot.
Much fun was had.
Central Park.
Crazy Fun Rambunctious Boys.
Good pics.
(some words go here)
And the pics:

Got many, missed many.
Will speak soon.

The Little Train

There is a famous children's book titled "The Little Engine That Could". It's a wonderful story about a little train whom no one thought could get over the hill. It was carrying all sort of fun paraphernalia (though my memory is not so great as to remember what sorts. I do remember a giraffe. I don't remember where I left my garage clicker.) and all of the bigger engines were laughing and making awfully rude remarks about it's supposed lack of strength. But despite all odds (and quite possibly because of the odds) the little train made it over the hill. All aboard rejoiced and faith was restored in trainkind, the publishing house made millions and the author a few hundred bucks.

The author's previous book however did not reach such critical acclaim. It was titled:

The Little Engine That Theoretically Could Have But Didn't Because He Was Too Lazy.

It was never published. It theoretically could have been, but the author was too lazy.

Sometimes I feel like the lazy train. School was always pretty easy, I never really needed to study and trying hard at was a foreign concept. Semicha was a bit tougher, but only a bit.

Nothing changed until I got married. Then BAM (yes in upper case letters. Named so for them being in the top drawer of the typesetters desk.). All of a sudden (all of a sudden? What the tuber is that supposed to mean) work is required. Hard work. No more Mr. Lazy Train.

It's more than work. In fact I shouldn't be really calling it work. It's discipline. It's going to bed at a certain time. It's structuring your day. Making a schedule. Keeping the schedule (crazy stuff). It's starting work and ending work. With a hard stop. Its not checking emails, not reading books (even self-help books, or some techno babble photography book). Its making time for your wife and kids. Real time, not shared time. Not with books, food an iPad or cellphone. It's waking up early and learning a it. It's getting to shul on time and starting with the minyan. It's following through with your promises.

I see some of my friends who aren't the brainiest, yet are happy and doing well financially. They had to work at school. Study. Take time off from playing around to hang out with a tutor. They learnt discipline.

I'm still trying.

Then the author made a third book. Although it wasn't as popular as the first, it was his favorite. It was titled:

The Little Engine That Theoretically Could Have But Didn't Because He Was Too Lazy But Then Worked His Tush Off And Finally Figured It Out

Chanukah Comedy Night @ Chabad of Laguna Beach.

I like my iPad. I do. But when it deletes an entire post because my finger brushed against the wrong button I feel like feeding it to the cows hanging out a few feet from my car.Being as most of my writing is completely ad hoc, and follows my thoughts of the moment, I'm going to have a really hard time rewriting all that was written. Rethinking all that was thought. Retracing whatever steps my mind took on its mad journey towards the "post" button (I'm pushing the save button every other word now).

Here goes:

Part of my wonderfully varied professional life is teaching a bunch of Tweens (also known as the Bar Mitzvah Class/Group/Dudes/Peoples-of-the-younger-sort) about our wonderful Jewish Heritage (I think, come to think of it im not exactly sure what I'm supposed to be teaching them (Dear Rebbetzin Goorevitch, that was a joke. I know exactly what im supposed to be teaching). The indoctrination process takes place at the quaint Chabad of Laguna Beach, located smack dab (who made up that one?) the world renown Pacific Coast Highway (and unlike the cheap knockoff in Northern Cali, this one is actually on the coast).

This same forementioned (my iPad refuses to recognize that as a word. Is it right?) Chabad house hosts an annual (?) Chanukah Comedy night (because they both start with a "C", that's why on Purim, many Chabad houses host "Paloozas" (not that anyone actually knows what a palooza is)). And being that in between teaching, cow watching, designing, and flying around with a cape and tights (you didn't know that was me? That's because I combed my hair to the side and removed my glasses) I am also a semi-professional photographer, I was asked to capture the memories on my cheap Chinese flash cards.

I was quite excited. A. There was food. B. I could test out my new ridiculously expensive new lens (Nikkor 85mm AF-S 1.4G for the techinally inclined) in an environment where it could shine. I am happy to say that it exceeded my expectations (which were quite high already). Sharp as a woman in labor's tongue, fast as a nursing woman's mood changes (that's a joke. My wife is awesome.), quick to focus, and — (bet you don't know where to find that dash on your keyboard) here's the awesome part — keeps the focus on moving subjects! Hooray!

I used my flash and fake fong diffuser for most of the shots (until the comedy part started, then they were all available light).

The Pics (a lot):

Looks good. Eh? I think this was with the 55mm micro.

That's EJ. A graduate if the Chabad of Laguna's Hebrew School, a past student of mine, and an awesome flutist.

Deep in discussion. Those are my star indoctrinees.

I told the guy on the right that we had three kids under four and my wife was expecting (we were since blessed with a beautiful Ephraim Zusha). He though we were absolutely insane. On another note, I must say, I am getting much better at this flash thing.

I'm not sure why I have so many pics of Dino. Must be his ultra photogenicness (hmmm, my iPad refuses to recognize that as a word also. Weird).

The Bar Mitzvah class got to introduce each of the candle lighters with a cute personalized poem. 'twas nice. dino here is trying to memorize his part. 'twas nice. dino here is trying to memorize his part.

One of the honorees with the wonderful Goorevitchs.

I always forget this couples name. I was the mashgiach at their sons wedding. Bonnie something. Whatever it may be, they are a really neat family.

The kids doing their introduction/poetry thing.

Yay!

Now starts the comedy part. The dude was mighty funny. Comedy is like pickles for me. I never want them, but once I have a bite I think "wow. These are good, I should have them more often".

I love how this lens locks in the focus in low light. Yummy.

Demonstrating how one could drive and take off ones sweater at the same time. Every time I look at these pictures I laugh.

For some reason I loved how the shadows looked.

The Tomkins. Parents of the famous Jake. Proud owners of a Mammoth Mountain bumper sticker.

Not sure what I like about this one.

This was hilarious. He was showing how whenever there is a bench with a table, people sit on the table and put their legs on the bench. So he invented a row above the tables so people could put their food there. But instead of putting their food there, they sat on them and put their feet on the table. And on it went. I guess you had to be there.

Mushka hates having her picture taken. Ha.

I love old couples.

And the Goorevitches.

Overall I was very happy with the shoot. There were no pieces of art, just good captures of a fun night. I feel like there was consistency from shot to shot, there was good use of flash and the best part: hardly any post processing. Just corrected exposure on a few and batch processed them all through Photoshop with a few minor actions.

What I really should use more though is a moderate wide angle. I'm really eying the new Nikon 35mm, however, its very pricey and I've heard it has some focus issues. We'll see. But it would complement the 85mm perfectly. I'd hardly ever need another lens (I'm trying to convince myself. I'm sure if I try hard enough I could do it.).

And for the record, I ended up typing this in the SimpleNote app and copying the whole thing over. You'd think wordpress would get its act together. Nope. I shouldn't complain. It's free (but is anything really free? Sorry. Not going down that path. I need to sleep).

Good Night.

Getting Paid to Eat Sushi

Sleep is God's way of saying "I love you". Yes, the rumors are true. I am in love with sleep (as the saying goes (not sure where the saying "how the saying goes" comes from, sayings don't really "go" anywhere, probably Joseph Heller): distance makes the heart grow fonder).

I also enjoy sushi. And when I was asked to shoot a Bar Mitzvah, and they were serving sushi, I jumped at the opportunity.

Before doing so I picked up this ridiculous inverted-dome looking device that fits over my flash to make the light a bit less harsh. It does weaken the light a bit but overall it looks much nicer than direct flash (that white face, harsh shadow look that screams: FLASH). Although it did make me look a bit less cool than I like, it did have this I'm-so-cool-I-don't-even-have-to-look-it appeal.

Overall I was satisfied with the job I did, though I wish I knew how to use the flash a bit more. Almost everything was shot in full manual mode with a lot of trial and error (more of the latter). The main thing I did learn (and an important lesson it is) is that flash is more for poor lighting than low lighting. In the beginning I was trying not to use flash as much as possible (which is doable with a fast lens and an awesome camera like the D700), and most of those pictures did not come out that hot.

Lesson #2: Getting good pictures is as much about good people skills than technical ability. Be comfortable, don't impose, be humorous (some wine helps) etc.

On to the pics.

The Three Musketeers (aka the three stooges). Cute family. (If I had my flash on a bracket, it would have been higher and wouldn't have had those nasty reflections on the glasses)

I wasn't set up for family portraits (they weren't planning on it originally). Ideally I would have an umbrella in front (to the side) and another flash hitting the wall to give some more separation. Next time.

Da Boyz

This kid was way too photogenic.

Dancing pics are new to me. No clue what I was doing.

And that's what happens when you don't use flash.

That's what happens when you do use flash.

And again.

Wow. My camera shoots in color! Actually most of the shots were in color, it's just the lighting was so bad (I.e. I did not control it enough) that black and white just looked better in many of the shots. I also went around to each table taking group pictures, but I never was a fan of posed pics so I'm not posting them here. Sorry.