New Experiences...

Today was an interesting day to say the least...

I began my morning casually browsing the net, sorta like Window shopping... then I found a 70-200 Nikon for £100 cheaper than the RRP... Called up Jessops to see if they would price match, and because I'm a regular customer at my local store, he agreed to price match for me on the condition that I take the insurance... Which works out, as I got the lens, and now if I drop it within 3yrs, instant replacement... So I can be a bit more wreckless when handling it... although knowing me, I won't be... I'll still be uber careful... But it's a better deal than the online store as the online store, the Warranty was with them, not with Nikon as I found out it was a US Model and that means Nikon UK wouldn't honour the Warranty...

So new lens for me! Quick test shots, and it impresses with it's Uber sharpness... I will be putting it through it's paces tomorrow as I'm shooting at Kew Gardens... I will of course be focusing on Macro... but I'll do some random shots, hopefully capturing some Street Photography style shots...

Later on in the evening I had a Photography meet with some Street Photographers... I had no idea what to expect, the only thing I was certain of, was that I would at least get some Nando's in me...

Eric Kim, a well-known Street Photographer organised a dinner to bring together some of London's Streettogs... I decided to attend as Street Photography is not something I have ever attempted before... Thought it would be good to learn a bit more about it and to see why other Photographers get involved in this...

Met some talented Photographers, and it was just great to really feel a sense of passion from them... Everyone I spoke to really seems into what they do, and all have their own styles...

One Photographer had some work on his iPad and showed me some of his shots... saw some amazing shots... truly capture emotions...

One of the reasons why I enjoy doing Wedding Photography as it's an opportunity to catch some really nice natural smiles... But to capture people in their day-to-day lives, unawares that they're being photographed is not something I am yet comfortable doing... but the results are simply staggering as you get to capture a more diverse range of emotions...

Another Photographer, Iesha Small, had a very interesting take on Photography... Something I had not considered before, but once described, the concept has really stuck with me... She told me that she loves to shoot people reading...

My instant reaction was that I thought it was easier, because they're not paying attention to you shooting, they're paying attention to their book... But then I started to imagine what that image could look like in my head and then found an urge to go and seek out some people with their noses in a book... So I can really see why that would be a great image...

I did also get to speak to the man himself, Eric Kim... Only having found out his existence a few days beforehand through a DigitalRevTV Episodes, or technically, AnalogueRevTV... It was only by chance I hit the "Like" on his facebook fanpage and found out about this dinner.

Glad I did... Not knowing much about him, but seeing the turnout of the dinner itself, it does just go to show how much of an impact this man has had on many photographers... his work was highly spoken of throughout the group, and when you meet him, he seems like a genuinely nice guy... always having a smile on his face, and was open and friendly to talk to anyone...

I will be following his work now... and hopefully I will get a chance to explore this genre of Photography myself...

I did try to do some Street Photography after... and I saw a couple holding each other, sitting on a bench, looking out toward Big Ben... Equipped with my 50mm f1.4, I kept my distance, took a shot from behind, and with them in their loving pose sitting on a bench, on the bottom third of the image toward the right side, and then Big Ben on the upper third to the top right... Composition wise, I thought was nice, and it was of them sharing a moment looking over at Big Ben...

I genuinely thought it was a nice image and went upto them to ask for their Email address as I thought they would like it... Little did I know, I just simply upset them and they aggressively asked me to delete it... So! I gave up for today and decided to go back to shooting inadament objects... lol

(Nikon D7000 + 50mm f1.4 @ f1.4, ISO1600, 1/60sec)

Composition wise, I could've been a bit more careful, although it was just a quick shot... Thought I'd use the Barclay's Bikes with the leading lines and depth of field... It's a concept I saw from another Photographers shot, but I thought I'd give it a go myself with a bit more of a shallow depth of field...

Whilst driving home I also saw a bridge with some amazing lights. I forgot the location, but I know how to get there! lol

Dynamic Range is an issue with todays cameras... hopefully with time they'll improve on it more...

(Nikon D7000 + 14-24mm f2.8 @ f11, ISO100, 2sec)

Here you see the Bridge is still a bit over-exposed, but everything else is under exposed.

(Nikon D7000 + 14-24mm f2.8 @ f11, ISO100, 10sec)

Now you see everything exposed correctly, but the Bridge has been blown out completely...

(HDR)

Never having really tried HDR, I thought I'd try to merge the two shots and here is a better balance... although I think I would need to go back one day and re-take shots and have 3 exposures... as the bridge lights were over exposed in both shots...

HDR is something I will get right one day! and also Street Photography...

But today... with a new lens, meeting new people, attempted Street Photography, and attempted HDR... today was definitely a day of new experiences...

www.leophoto.co.uk

www.facebook.com/leophoto.co.uk

@LeoHoangPhoto

FLCKR, TUMBLR, 500px, DEVIANTART will come soon...