dav.d photography

Trying to improve as a photographer means photographing constantly. Right now I have photographed and blogged at least once a day for 92 days in a row – that is easily a record for me. And I have photographed regularly at Club Jam – and that provides another learning experience. You would think that photographing the same location week in and week out would lead to me photographing everything and never photographing anything new. However, I am constantly finding new ways to photograph new and different stories or people. I am forcing myself to look at photography different. Maybe sometime I will photograph a different club – but I have a lot of fun at Jam.

To see the full gallery check out my SmugMug gallery of photographs. And any photos purchased (downloads or prints) helps keep me buying the new and latest camera gear. Not that gear makes me a better photographer – but it couldn’t hurt.

And, another way to try and improve as a photographer is to force myself to photograph with just one lens. In this case I used my current favorite lens – the Nikkor f/1.4 50mm G lens. It is a gorgeous lens that can almost shoot in the dark without a flash. But for events I can survive on one light. Actually, more than just survive. With one Nikon SB-800 and part of the Gary Fong Lightsphere I can bounce light and make it look like a had a big light – almosty a softbox in the room. I keep the shutter speed at about 1/30th of a second on slow sync speed. It helps mix the ambient light with some strobe. Most all of these photographs were photographed at ISO 800.

And if things take off with photography I am hoping I can raise some dinero for several new camera bodies and several lenses. I want to get the Nikon D700 and I am really considering adding a Canon camera to my lineup of tools. Why would I want to shoot Canon? There are three lenses I am starting to lust for in my heart. They are the Canon 85mm f/1.2, Canon 50mm f/1.2, Canon 24mm f/1.4. These are 3 lenses that Nikon doesn’t make – and I don’t think Nikon will ever make them. Canon makes great prime lenses and these lenses all shoot with very shallow depth of field and help shoot in very low light. Oh, to dream…

These photographs include a lot of detail shots. Photographing alcohol probably won’t help someone going to Alcohol Anonymous, however, we weren’t at Club Jam for coffee, donuts, and 12 steps. We were there for dancing, drinking, and fun.

And the more I photograph the more I realized that I am constantly learning. So I need to simplify my life so I focus on 3 areas: work, photography, and fitness. So no time for dating, no time for much else. But at least photography won’t break my heart

Anyway, I am hoping you folks enjoy my photographs – and it is fun to hear people’s feedback. And check out SmugMug – and buy some photographs!