Behind the scenes

Behind the scenes, originally uploaded by DrFireball.

Need to be more disciplined and take more shots of the lighting setups. This was taken by my assistant that day.

When at my best I write down settings etc and have even used an app on the ipad to recall lighting diagrams (or even to plan them in advance of a shoot). Typically however I like to be more free flowing and just "get on with it!".

I have been asked to speak to a local camera club though about these photoshoots - not because I am any good but rather because no-one else at the club really does this kind of thing. So I had the idea of doing a live shoot tethered to a laptop and projector. Should be good fun - will be good to have a few shots like this also though to show other alternative lighting setups.

Still enjoying the Hasselblad - even more since the Canon 5D III has been announced - I can understand why they went with "only" 22MP - but it makes me feel even happier to know that my Hassie has not immediately received a challenge to my desires :-) That said the AF on the H3D is fine in continuous but the delay between pressing the shutter and capture meant that on this shoot I had more accurate leaping captures from the 5DII. I did have the 7D for a short while (always let down by the IQ compared with the 5D) and liked it ergonomics. Will I sell the 5Dii therefore to make way for a 5Diii? Unlikely - I will wait for the ii to break by which time the iii will be a more sensible price.

As always enjoy :-)

DrF

Hasselblad H3D-II 31

Ah the joys of new toys!

Have had this for a little over a week now and have done a couple of portraits for the family but today was the first chance to see how it handled against my usual 5dII.

I was shooting in a warehouse that has no power and is very dusty so I was not able to shoot tethered. As a consequence I had to use the rear screen rather more than I would have liked. Having read lots about how poor the screens on these digital backs are I can now confirm this to be true. Ok for composition but really shonky when coming to checking focus. I was ready for the narrow depth of field but would this manage with a moving/jumping dancer?

I shot mostly over f11 and as it was pretty cold and the warehouse is very close to home we all bundled back for lunch - a posh pee and coffee! Loading the images onto the laptop I could not have been happier with the results - all in focus - the continuous AF worked very well in addition to the focus and recompose. So do I feel I should have gone with the H4D - absolutely not. I picked this camera up at an absolute bargain price and am truly happy. The extra dynamic range is very noticeable and I did not miss the 5DII/85 f1.2 combo one bit.

All in all a happy man

DrF