nikon 24-70mm

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I shot this picture back when Detroit Region SCCA still ran autocross events at the Pontiac Silverdome. I went around the grid and tried my hand at taking people portraits. This was one of my favorites: two young novices getting ready to make a run. Smiles were captured using my favorite technique — aim the camera, start firing away, move my head away from the camera while still firing the shutter, and giving the subjects a glare or an evil grin, thereby usually getting rid of the deer-in-the-headlights stare and getting a laugh, which then becomes the photograph I keep. Photo shot with a Nikon D700 and a 24-70mm f/2.8 lens.

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Some dance photographers are passive observers. Then you have photographers like me, who… aren’t. It’s no secret that I get up close to the dancers I photograph, and occasionally encourage/goad/cheer on fellow dancers. This is one my favorite dance photos. Notice that everyone else is standing around. Why? Because the song ended 10 seconds ago. I spotted this dip, trained my camera on the pair, and simply kept shooting and shooting. Without moving the camera, I moved my head away from the viewfinder and gave the lead an evil grin as he struggled to keep the dip going, eventually nearly dropping his follow on the floor. The laughs I got from the lead and the follow are what make this image for me. Photo shot on a Nikon D700 with 24-70mm f/2.8 lens.

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I brought along a set of Alien Bees B800 strobes, a roll of white paper, and several white glossy boards in the back of my Ford Focus hatchback and traveled to Terre Haute, Indiana for Rose-Hulman’s Winter Gala dance. I set up a studio outside the dance hall in the lobby and tried to shoot white seamless for the very first time, relying on the stuff that I had read from Zack Arias. After a bit of a rocky start, I finally was able to get a series of decent shots going. Thankfully, the swing dancers that I shot were more than accommodating to my stumbles. Towards the end of the night, I decided to ask someone to stand behind the camera and take a shot of me. Photo shot on a Nikon D7000 with a Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8 lens, with a trio of Alien Bees B800 studio strobes triggered by Pocket Wizards.