PhotographyBanzai.com

My friend and fellow photographer Kings Cosplay set up a photoshoot at Starved Rock State Park in Utica, IL. Though we had our fair share of issues such as part of the park flooding, we did manage to get a decent amount of time to take photos. Besides getting some photography in, I enjoyed the exercise and scenic views! I brought a pretty simple camera kit. The Nikon D600 along with a 28mm f1.8 and 70-210mm f4 lens. I also brought a single flash, but only used that for around 5 photos. My go-to for most of the event was the telephoto. I like the photos out of that ~$200 old used 1980s telephoto lens just as much as anything else. The lens is weirdly shaped, ugly, and with old school screw-drive AF, but does the job well. 

I recently joined in on a two-day photoshoot Kings Cosplay had scheduled with the local model Ari Jade. The theme was race queen with most of the secondary subject being motorcycles. Here are a few highlight photos: Day one equipment: Nikon 28mm f/1.8g lens Two flash with a stand, umbrella, and a 6×8″ diffuser. The first day was a bit rough photo wise. All we initially had to work with was a home garage and by the time we got out to a downtown parking garage later in the day it was really dark, so the background wasn’t usable.  The main issue I didn’t properly compensate for was the sodium vapor lamps the parking garage used, which produces monochromatic light. I also tried gels on my flash, which didn’t have a strong enough orange to match the garage lamps. The parking garage photos were best in monochrome. The garage lighting didn't work out well.  Day two equipment: 28mm f1.8 lens 70-210mm f4 lens Two flash with a stand and large 42″ brolly box softbox umbrella. I also had...

If you are unfamiliar with cosplay, this phrase “Tiger & Bunny” the name of an animated TV series in Japan that is also available in the USA on DVD (licensed by a company called Viz Media). Blue Rose is a female character that has been pretty popular in the convention cosplay scene. A friend of a friend wanted to get some photos for a calendar contest that is happening soon, so I went along and helped.  She was popular in Chicago. I decided on some older equipment. I had another photoshoot the day after and had already charged the batteries and packed everything up for that. I brought the Pentax K-7, AF-280T flash, and DA 40mm f2.8 XS lens. It was a small yet effective kit that I could easily manage. Another reason for that small kit was because the photo session was in downtown Chicago near the Cloud Gate aka. the “Bean” in Millennium Park.  I’ve never been too thrilled with the treatment Chicago gives to photographers, but it worked out well. On a few occasions we ...

A friend and I has a small model shoot on Thursday. Our goals were to generate some useful example images for a basic photography panel we will be running at a convention soon. While I’m not sure the shoot was successful from that aspect, I think I did get some nice images. I was using the K-7 camera body, the DA* 55mm f1.4 lens, a Sigma 530DG Super flash, and a custom bracket. Used the camera primarily in Av, but I also controlled the ISO along with the aperture. 

I was recently asked by a friend of my sister to take some photos of her family. They were not interested in the classic posed portrait studio fair as they wanted photos that felt more natural. I was happy to oblige. Overall the session went well. The lights was overcast, but that was a good thing as lighting was diffuse.  The big negative of session was the wind, which caused issues with the mother’s hair as well as cutting the session a bit short. As any photographer knows, getting special shots where everything aligns perfectly will usually happen if enough shots are taken and enough time is spent on the session. My equipment for the session: Pentax K-5 camera + FA 31mm f1.8 + Sigma 530 DG Super flash + battery grip to even out the weight. Pentax K-7 camera + DA* 55mm f1.4 + Pentax AF-280T flash. The K-5 stayed around my neck and the K-7 was in and out of a messenger bag. Some thoughts about the session: High speed sync was always on with the Sigma flash. This should allow ...