It’ been a while since I last posted here.
Too busy to maintain blogs (http://nomadphotography.com.au/blog) and website (http://www.nomadmodels.com.au) but also with wedding album design and photo shoots, I barely had time to do anything else.
Anyway, time to get back to the keyboard for some typing and posting.

To start with, I’ll have a bit of an insight regarding gears as I have been shooting with some new toys for the last couple months now.
In the bag I have:
- Canon 5D Mark II
- Canon 7D
- Canon 1D Mark IV

While the first two cameras are not the hottest cameras at the moment, I confess that I haven’t touched my 7D since I had the Canon 1D Mark IV.
I can shoot a whole wedding with this camera and the Canon EF 24-70 f/2.8 L.
When I can see the reason why Canon maintains its x1.3 crop sensor I tend to use less and less the full frame of my Canon 5D Mark IIs (I have two of them)

Having the Nikon D700 and the exciting Nikon D3s, I found in the new release Nikkor 16-35 f/4 VR an exciting piece of glass but I didn’t feel the need to buy it.
Why did Nikon build this lens? Is it to compete with teh Canon 16-35 f/2.8 L II or is it just to have one?

As mentioned above, putting the 16-35 f/2.8 L II on my Canon 5D Mark II body and the 24-70 f/2.8 L on the Canon 1D Mark IV, I have virtually no gap in my focal range from 16mm to 94mm FF equivalent.
Not that Nikon doesn’t have a crop sensor in its range of D-SLR but because they have the excellent 14-24 f/2.8 to complement the 24-70 f/2.8 and the 70-200 f/2.8.
Having these 3 awesome lenses with my two Nikon bodies, there is no need for me to buy that Nikkor 16-35 even if it has VR. Note also that at this focal range and on full frame bodies, you almost never need VR anyway.

below are a few images from recent shoots with the above discussed cameras.

Related posts:

• New Firmware for Canon 5D Mark II
• NASA Orders D3s Digital SLR Cameras and Interchangeable Lenses from Nikon
• Nikon D3s Hands on Teaser
• Canon 7D and Canon TS-E 24 mm f/3.5 L II
• Landscape with the Canon 7D

It has been such a busy time that I haven’t got time to post on this journal.

I will come back here soon with loads of review and announcements.

On the menu there will be the on-the-field reviews of the Nikon D3s and the Canon 1D Mark IV in real wedding situation.

I will talk about my one month experience with the Apple iPad and also what it changed in my way of traveling light on assignment.

In the meant time, check out these few images taken at an expo at the Alliance Francaise in Canberra.

Back soon.

Check out more mega size images here: http://nomadphotography.com.au/blog/2010/05/les-filles-de-lalliance/

Related posts:

• TTD. Trash The Dress. Lite Version

As a partner with the Aliance Francaise Canberra (www.afcanberra.com.au) Nomad Photography (www.nomadphotography.com.au) has covered the event.

Check out the photo taken at ISO 12800 here: http://nomadphotography.com.au/blog/2010/03/french-film-festival-2010/

Related posts:

• Rock ‘n Roll … of Corse. Guitarist and founder of The Police in Canberra
• Nikon D3s Hands on Teaser

Just launched: http://www.nomadmodels.com.au/

L’Association Maison Chance oeuvre en faveur des handicapés et des orphelins dans un quartier défavorisé de Ho Chi Minh ville, Vietnam. Les objectifs de l’Association sont à court terme de donner aux bénéficiaires un foyer afin de leur permettre de (re)trouver un équilibre personnel. Ils se voient également offrir l’occasion de compléter leur scolarité et de recevoir une formation professionnelle ; le but à long terme étant qu’ils puissent réintégrer la société et y vivre de façon autonome.

La Maison Chance est née en 1993 de l’engagement personnel d’une jeune peintre suisse, Aline Rebeaud, envers les plus déshérités du Vietnam.

C’est au terme d’un voyage en Asie qu’Aline arrive au Vietnam. Un soir, au détour d’une rue, elle croise le chemin d’un enfant en pleurs, livré à lui-même. Elle se rend très vite compte des conditions très difficiles dans lesquelles vivent les orphelins devenus enfants des rues.
Une deuxième rencontre va changer le cours de sa vie. Lors de la visite d’un asile psychiatrique, elle rencontre Thanh. Agé d’à peine 12 ans, il gît, enchaîné, à même le sol. Son état de santé est catastrophique et tout le monde le donne pour mort. Mais Aline refuse ce diagnostic et décide de prendre en charge le garçon. Elle l’emmène à l’hôpital car Thanh souffre du foie, des poumons et du cœur, et s’occupe de lui durant toute la durée de son hospitalisation (plus de 3 mois).

En effet au Vietnam c’est la famille ou les proches qui doivent se charger des soins et de la nourriture. A leur sortie de l’hôpital, Aline est baptisée « Tim » par les autres malades qui lui montrent le panneau de l’hôpital (Tim mach : Hôpital cardiologique) ; Tim veut dire «cœur» en vietnamien.

Lors de ses différentes visites dans les hôpitaux Tim a rencontré de nombreux handicapés. Paralysés des suites d’un accident du travail, eux aussi vivent dans des situations difficiles, très souvent abandonnés par leurs proches. Tim a alors l’idée de regrouper ces deux populations. Des orphelins et des enfants des rues, en manque de père, de mère, de frères et de sœurs, d’une famille et des handicapés, la plupart adulte, qui ont envie de créer une famille et qui ont besoin de personnes pour les aider.

Depuis lors beaucoup d’handicapés ainsi que d’autres orphelins ont rejoint Tim et Thanh. Tim a construit pas à pas un véritable foyer dans lequel elle accueille et soigne les plus défavorisés tout en leur donnant les moyens de retrouver la dignité et une fonction sociale par l’éducation et la formation. Avec ténacité, elle a recomposé une cellule familiale élargie dans laquelle chacun se voit proposer une chance de bâtir un projet de vie…(From Maison Chance – Historique)

Les photos de ce reportage sont visibles sur Smugsmug. Cliquer ici pour les voir.

Photography is nothing like just clicking the shutter.
The difference between pros and amateurs come on how they actually get involved into the shoot and what they do to get That shot.
Check out rock climbing photographer Simon Carter in action with the Nikon D3s:

One of the first Nikon D3s down under for real life on the field testing by Bill Frakes.

HD Video Contest By Canon

Introducing the first user-generated HD Video Contest where photographers become filmmakers, and we all see beyond the still. To kick off the contest, Canon asked photographer, Vincent Laforet, to interpret what story lives beyond this still and to tell that story with the new Canon EOS 7D. His will be the first chapter of seven, each ending with a still photograph for the next aspiring filmmaker to interpret. Posing the question to everyone, what do you see beyond the still?

Link to Vincent Laforet’s, Nocturne, video here.

Canon press release:

Canon U.S.A. Kicks Off Innovative “Story Beyond The Still” Digital Image Contest On Vimeo.Com

Lake Success, N.Y., January 15, 2010 – Canon U.S.A., Inc., a leader in digital imaging, today announced the commencement of “The Story Beyond The Still Contest,” allowing photographers and videographers to showcase their creativity in a new style of filmmaking that blends still and video images into a continuous cinematic piece begun by Canon Explorer of Light . The contest, sponsored by Canon and hosted by Vimeo, the online video sharing site hosting one of the largest collections of HD content on the Web, invites participants to use the HD video capability of their camera to create short, two to four minute videos that tell a story based on the final still frame from Laforet’s piece, and then from each successive winning “chapter.” Videos can be submitted to and viewed on a dedicated site within the Vimeo online community before they are judged.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Exciting news! New Canon HD video contest on Vimeo! (vimeo.com)
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Related posts:

• Canon 1D Mark IV New AF System: “Do or Die”
• Canon 1D Mark IV HD Video
• Canon Lens Update
• Canon 1D Mark IV “announced”

Dec 21, 2009

Nikon Corporation (Michio Kariya, President) is pleased to announce that the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has placed an order for eleven D3S digital SLR cameras and seven AF-S NIKKOR 14-24mm f/2.8G ED lenses to be used for photographic documentation.

The D3S digital SLR cameras and AF-S NIKKOR 14-24mm f/2.8G ED lenses ordered by NASA will be carried on the Space Shuttle and used to photograph activities at the International Space Station (ISS) in the future.
No special modifications will be made to these products. They will be the same products available to end-users, confirming the incredible versatility of the D3S. This equipment will be used along with the Nikon D2XS digital SLR cameras, NIKKOR lenses, and Nikon Speedlights already in use at the International Space Station.

Read more of the press release on Nikon’s Website

Related posts:

• Catching up
• Nikon D3s Hands on Teaser

From a recent wedding I shot overseas (New Caledonia).

Two days after the Ceremony and Reception, I dragged the couple out for a lite session of TTD.

The location was actually the groom’s resort between mountains and rivers. Awesome spot.

Related posts:

• Expo @ L’Alliance