Exposure: 0.017 sec (1/60) Aperture: f/4.5 Focal Length: 70 mm ISO Speed: 400 Exposure Bias: 2/3 EV

This is how I did it:

Portraits are some of the toughest photos to take. And I do mean that. My boss asked if I would come in and take some fun photos of our staff members for our website and I happily obliged. She said she wanted them to look like a photo that another of my co-workers had taken and it looked to be a high key image with blown-out highlights and in high contrast Black and White. “Not a problem” I said, and brought in my gear the following week. Read the rest of this entry »

Dan's photo gear setup

This is my regular quick setup. I also have two tripods I use on occasion and a Canon A510 pocket shooter as a secondary.

Nikon D40x

18-70mm
55-200mm
50mm f1.8

ML-L3 remote

SB-600

2 sets of rechargeable batteries + charger for flash

2 Nikon batteries
1 Aputure battery grip

Hand Strap

Crumpler 7 Million Dollar Home

2 GB Sandisk Extreme 3 SD Card
2 GB Sandisk SD Card

Business Cards

Rocket Blower

USB cable

Camera manual
Screen protectors
Microfiber cleaning cloths

My favorite type of photos to make are ones that show wear and grit. I love texture. Character. These are some of my shots I have made in Downtown Calgary over the past few years. I used a Nikon D70s and a D40x for all these photos.

The thing I like about urban scapes is that you can just walk and shoot and not have to steer a model, direct or control anything. You just get some air and shoot. 100% of these photos were taken on days where I needed a break from work and grabbed my camera. No planning, no thinking, just shooting. I love it. Let me know what you think!