Photo Shoot: Angel in the Cemetery

Earlier this week my friend Angel contacted me and threw out an idea to do a photo shoot in a cemetery at night. I quickly recommended shooting during the day. For once, it was less creepy, but also because the photos would have a bunch of light provided by the sun. Angel did a great job, she had never really been in front of a camera before. She is actually a photographer her self. She had a lot of fun, and unfortunately, I didn't post any of the more fun photos, because they were just really goofy. Maybe someday!

I recently got my hands on some neutral density (ND) filters for my 50mm lens, so I was finally capable of shooting at f/1.4 with my flashes. So, this is my first photo shoot that I have done using my 50mm (my favorite lens for portraits) with flash (my favorite way of lighting the photo). After piling on a ND2, and ND8 filter onto my lens, I was then able to shoot at ISO 200, 1/80th shutter speed, and f/1.4 for most of these photos, which is just amazing considering with out the ND filters, I would have easily been pushing 1/800th or 1/1000th with that lens! So, expect more with this lens now that i am capable of satisfying myself with light and my favorite portrait lens.

Update: A friend of mine, Zack, asked me "Why wouldn't you want 1/800th or 1/1000th of a second shutter speed?" Well, the answer to that question is quite simple. With most cameras, they can only sync your flash to a certain speed. my Nikon D300 DSLR can only sync with a flash at 1/250th or 1/320th of a second or lower. So when using my 50mm f/1.4 with flash before, I lost my depth of field because I had to adjust my aperture to a setting that wouldn't over expose the photograph with the flash. So, by reducing the amount of light that can enter the lens using a ND filter (or two), I am able to produce photos with a more natural light source (sun) and my 50mm at f/1.4 and receive beautiful photographs of the model popping in focus from the blurred background behind them without it being over exposed.