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» Nikon D700 and SB-900 released!

Nikon has announced two new products today, the new Nikon D700 body featuring a full frame FX sensor and the SB-900 flash which features more power and faster recycling time.

Nikon D700

The Nikon D700 is really like a smaller D3. The looks are almost like the D300 but the inside is much more of the D3 featuring the low noise capabilities in the CMOS, FX sensor. It has unlike the D3 a pop-up flash which can come in handy. You have also the two live view modes, either hand-held or tripod mode. Of course there is also the 3" LCD display and a 51-point AF with 3D Focus Tracking. Something that’s still pretty new to the Nikon line, the D700 has a dust reduction system that sounds pretty good as well.

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Nikon SB-900

The SB-900 is really a pretty awesome flash head. It features a faster recycle time, it is more powerful than the SB-800, has better software, a larger LCD window and also senses whether you happen to be using a DX or FX camera. It also has a great zoom range from 18-200mm which is pretty remarkable. As a final, you can also choose between three different light distribution patterns depending on what you are shooting!

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» I’m at the Koster Islands!

 

I’ve arrived at the Koster Islands where I’ll be spending the week. I’m also very happy to report that my mobile broadband (that’s brand new) works as I’d hoped, so I have internet access all the week which means I’ll be able to share photos with you all as they come, as well as some dose of news. The image below is what I see outside my window almost from my bed (at least from the little table in the mini-house) well, apart from the fact from that it is an HDR photo. Pretty beautiful isn’t it!

I’ll be scouting around the island from tomorrow and throughout the week and shoot a variety of subjects. From flora to landscapes to forests and to animals, here is everything. I’ll also make good use of my brand new macro lens.

» New Lens - Tamron 90mm f/2.8

 

Today is a new lens day here. As some of you know I’m off to a bit of a vacation this coming week up on the wonderful islands of Koster. It’s some very beautiful nature there and I’m going to be taking a lot of photos while there so I thought why not add another new lens to my arsenal right before this. I have long thought about a good and reasonably priced macro lens (hence the 105 VR too expensive) that would work really well for both Macro and Portraits. Now I felt though that it was a great time to pick this one up. I haven’t really done any testing because I got home late and all (writing this just before midnight now) so I’m looking forward to try it out and I’ll be writing a review during this week.

Sorry for the lack of industry news today but I’ll do a post tomorrow morning here!

» No Blogging Wednesday

Got a lot to do today which means that there will be a no blogging Wednesday. Instead go and check out a guest-blogger post over at Scott Kelby’s blog by Matt Kloskowski that talks about a fun project that involved photoshop! Matt did a wonderful post there and it is worth your time!

Tomorrow is going to be an article Thursday with some coolies! The picture above also from my recent weekend trip! Cool things are happening, more on that tomorrow!

» Late Evening Update

 Alright so I took the train this morning down to the most beautiful little town and coastline that I know of here just north of the city Halmstad here in Sweden. It’s mostly a quick visit to my grandparents but obviously you can’t turn down an amazing shooting opportunity. This is the result of this evening’s shoot, well one of the results (I have a few more). Gonna share some more later one but for now, this’ll have to do. It’s so nice to get out there after working so long with little time for it!

I’ll see you all back tomorrow with a surprisingly bloggy Sunday!

» My Favorite Software and Gadgets

Like everyone else I have a lot of software and gadgets that I use daily and really like as well and I get a lot of questions about what I use for different things. Here is a list over my favorite software and gadgets for their specific purposes.

 

Software Graphics: Adobe Creative Suite Design Premium Screen Recording: ScreenFlow Word Processing: Microsoft Word Mail: Apple Mail Music: iTunes Calendar: iCal Project Time Management: Billings Passwords: 1Password Alarm Clock: Awaken Presentations: Apple Keynote FTP: Flow Chatting: MSN & iChat Business Phone: Skype with SkypeIn Web Browser: Safari & Firefox Backup: Time Machine

Gadgets Cellphone: (Soon) iPhone MP3 Player: iPod Video 30gb Gaming Console: X-Box (I’m no gamer) Home Phones: Siemens Gigaset Excerise: Nike + Webcam: iSight (built-in) Presentation Remote: Apple Remote   Services Podcast: Libsyn Web Hosting: XLD Studios Music Download: iTunes VoIP: Skype Stock: iStockPhoto

Photography Gear Cameras Nikon D50 Olympus C-5060 Nikon Coolpix 4600 Lenses Sigma 10-20mm ƒ/4-5.6 DC HSM Nikkor 18-55mm ƒ/3,5-5,6G ED Sigma 70-300mm ƒ/4-5,6 APO DG Flash Nikon Speedlight SB-600 Filters Cokin P121 GND Cokin P154 ND8 Hoya Polarizer Hoya UV’s Bags Lowepro MiniTrekker II AW Lowepro Slingshot 200 AW Lowepro Nova 1 AW Tripod Manfrotto 055XPROB Tripod Manfrotto 486RC2 Ballhead Accessories Omnibounce Cokin P Holder Cokin 52mm Adapter Ring Cokin 77mm Adapter Ring

Hardware Computer: MacBook 2Ghz, 2gb RAM, 250gb HDD External Screen: Eizo FlexScan S2201W & Samsung SyncMaster 913N Printer: HP Laserjet 1320 & Epson Stylus Photo R265 Headset: Plantronics .Audio 400 DSP Tablet: Wacom Bamboo Mouse: Microsoft IntelliMouse Explorer for Bluetooth Keyboard: Apple Keyboard (old version) Scanner: Epson Perfection 1670 External Hardrives: 250gb External LaCie Porsche HDD USB 2.0 & 80gb External USB (from old internal)

 

» Artist Interview: James Quantz Jr.

It is monday which basically means following up the artist interviews we started last week! Just week we have an interview with extremely talented artist, James Quantz Jr. who is a master in his own creative field producing pretty unique photos.

Tell us a litte bit about yourself?

I’m a commercial photographer living in Columbia, SC USA.  I started more in the Fine Art area using a 4×5 to produce black and white prints for clients.  In the past year or so I have gravitated severely (you might say) to the digital end of the spectrum and creating more of a photo illustrative style imagery.

Do you have any formal training/what is your background in art?

As far as formal training is concerned, I did attend Portfolio Center in Atlanta for a few years.  Major aspects of that stint were learning studio lighting and styling.  From there I studied in the western US with two of Ansel Adams’ former assistants, John Sexton and Alan Ross.  With them I was introduced the the magical, interpretive lighting of the landscape using the zone system. Also image manipulation done the old fashioned way by dodging and burning in the darkroom.  Since then, I have basically self taught myself with the help of books, dvds, and a few seminars here and there.

What equipment do you use?

Currently I use all Nikon equipment(as my 4×5’s are busy collecting dust).  More specifically a D300 which I prefer because of the size and ease of use.  The image files from this camera are really amazing!  I do like to stress that as long as you have something functional it is not the equipment that makes the photographer or the photograph.  Some people really waste a lot of time on the "which brand is better" debate when they could be bettering themselves by just creating imagery.  I capture in RAW for the most part and use Apple computers.

Who is your biggest influence? Why?

I really couldn’t single out one big influence except my own imagination.  It is influenced, however, by everything!  Books, movies, tv shows, theater, art, photography, etc. can be used as an influence for imagery.  That is what I find so magical about using a tool like Photoshop.  As long as you open your creativity to the world around you there are really no boundaries to what can be created.  

Do you have any advice to aspiring artists?

Any advice would be directly related to what I stated before about creating imagery.  In order to be proficient doing so, you need to have control of the tools.  Be it the camera, lighting, or processing you need to do your best to learn as much as you can so you can execute your vision.  A musician needs to know how to play his instrument before he can create music and the same applies to photography.  The more you learn and practice the better you will become.

Do you have anything else you want to say?

Nothing else to say - I’ve got some images to create!

• Visit James Quantz Jr. Portfolio

» Tips on flower photography

 When you are shooting flower photography, there are a couple of things you should keep in mind so that you can get a better photograph at the end of the day and evolve as a photographer.

» Full Lunar Eclipse Tonight

Tonight there will be a full lunar eclipse happening visible from a lot of places around the world. For us on the North Hemisphere it is going to be the last one visible until 2010! Sadly for us in Europe, it is going to be full at around 3-5a.m depending on where you are located. To read more about the Lunar Eclipse, check out the links below!

• NASA Lunar Eclipse Page
• Lunar Eclipse Tips

» Learning Wednesday

 Today will be all about learning new things, whether it be Photoshop, Lightroom or web things, I have some learning links saved up for you for today!

• Kelby Training has released a brand new online class that is called "Retouch a portrait in 15 minutes" by Vincent Versace. It is a great class where you’ll learn the secrets to quick and good portrait retouches that is actually used in a workflow environment. I’ve watched the first few lessons in the class myself and I think it looks great! Not for the beginner though but for someone who knows their way around Photoshop.
   
• If you are planning on visiting Photoshop World coming up to Orlando, April 2-4 this spring you should note that the date of the early-bird registration closing is coming up in about ten days. It is a $100 saving, so if you are planning on going to Photoshop World, you should register soon (and to prevent it from selling out before you register!). 
   
• If you are looking to learn a little about Photography then you should go ahead and subscribe to David Zisers totally free newsletter. A new edition is just out and you can click here to subscribe. Also check out his blog, Digital ProTalk!
   
• Over at Smashing Magazine, they have today listed 45 more excellent blog themes. They’re some really good themes so if you are into design, it is a very nice read!