A little about Bill Pador

I am a 43 year old freelance photographer born & raised in New Jersey. I enjoy just about every aspect of photography and taking different assignments in various forms from a simple wedding, family events & parties, landscapes, portraits, Commercial & Industrial projects and so on. I also specialize in documenting Legal & Evidence photos for auto & work place accidents with expert testimony having 16+ years of Law Enforcement experience to include patrol, detective, accident investigator and SWAT member as a civilian & military police officer.I spent over 16 years of my adult life as a Police Officer from 1985-2002 until I was seriously Wounded in the Line of duty with a spinal injury that required me to give up my life long dream of being a cop. I have always been an artist in one form or another during my life as a musician, painter & photographer but my passion for photography has always been on top and I am driven by a fire inside me to continue capturing the world around me 1/100th of a second at a time. The art of photography is very special to me and I hope that you enjoy my work as much as I enjoy creating it.Over the years I have continued my education by reading & studying everything I could get my hands on about the art of photography, but more importantly shooting hundreds of thousands of photographs. There's pretty much not a day that goes by even when not on assignment that I don't shoot something or try new innovative techniques to better my craft. As an artist there is nothing that brings you more joy then to see others enjoy your work, that's why we do it. I am driven by the pure thought of having someones emotions being moved by a millisecond in time that has been captured by my skill and artistry. I'm also skilled in General Digital Imaging & Photo Repair and do all my own Digital Dark Room post processing IN HOUSE using all the latest computers & software available. I use the very best materials & labs in the USA and do not outsource anything overseas.I am a Member of the Professional Photographers Association of America and belong to many Professional International photography organizations such a LightStalkers, Photo.net, Nikonians, Photolog and many more where I continue my education on a daily basis to keep up with all the modern trends and equipment. I do all my own Digital Darkroom post processing and artistic creations in house using the finest processing software, computers and techniques available. My work can been seen all over the Internet and I have been published in various media such as newspapers, The American Police Hall of Fame magazine and most recently Internationally in a Photography montage coffee book.Don't just LOOK at photos, STUDY them for a while and then you will begin to see the difference between a photo and the ART of Photography ! My official web site www.billpador.com contains a small portion of my work that can be purchased online along with booking information. I cover NJ-NY-PA-CT as my home territory but I will travel anywhere in the world my clients may need me.Best Regards,Bill Pador

Nikon D-300 Quick Review

12-30-07 - Nikon D-300 Review

Good Afternoon ! Well most of the major holidays are over for the exception of bringing in the New Year tomorrow night. I hope you all had a wonderful holiday enjoying your family & friends. Myself I had a great Christmas with my kids, there's nothing like watching the joy on their faces on Christmas morning, it brings back your own memories of childhood and a time where life was just, well SIMPLE. Nothing to worry about except which gift you were going to play with or wear first. Ah the good old days right ?
Personally I had the pleasure of adding another great piece of equipment to my arsenal, the newest high tech camera in Nikon's line the Mighty D-300 ! This monster of digital technology is perhaps one of the finest camera I have ever had the pleasure to shoot. While purchasing it my salesman informed me that photographers that shoot Nikon's Dx2 Pro camera were trading their bodies in for this marvelous hardware to get in on the fantastic technology provided by this Digital Single Reflex marvel.
Sporting 12.3 Million High Resolution Pixels and the ability to shoot 8 frames per second the first thing you notice when you grab onto to this camera is that it is WELL BUILT ! A Magnesium Alloy body wrapped in space age rubber lends the feel of a tank in your hands. It's heavy construction of approx. 1.82 lbs. is well balanced and a pleasure to shoot over long periods of time. With the ability to shoot in 12 & 14 bit RAW format at 3 levels *Loss-less Compressed, Compressed & Uncompressed enables the user to do just about any Post Production work effortlessly, especially using the bundled software, Nikon's Award Winning "Capture NX" which was a welcomed surprise that they FINALLY bundled their software with the camera instead of making you spend another $200 out of pocket to adjust your photos properly using their software made specifically for Nikon cameras. Your also able to shoot in .TIFF, Several levels of .JPG and NEF (RAW) + .JPG combinations as well. The New 3" - 920,000-dot (VGA) Color LCD display with 170' viewing angle & 100% (yes I said ONE HUNDRED PERCENT) frame coverage makes for reviewing a capture a pure joy. The LCD screen now also seconds as a LIVE VIEW mode allowing the user to frame and shoot while looking at a live picture on the LCD without ever having to squint into the view finder. I have found this feature very helpful already allowing me to frame shots from ground & floor level without having to put my belly in the dirt, a welcome feature for sure. The screen colors are vivid and accurate especially when reviewing a shot using the multiple level zoom which is quick and precise.
The D-300 borrows many features from it's higher priced cousin, the D-3 ($5000.00) sharing the same auto-focus system which has multiple levels to choose from such as 9, 21 or 51 contact points along with a 51 point 3D Color Matrix Metering II system, Center Weight or Spot metering, which has worked flawlessly during my testing. ISO settings range from several choices of ISO-100 (Nikon calls L-1,L-.7 & L-.3) all the way up to ISO-3200 which can be pushed to ISO-6400 also using 3 steps (H-0.3, H-0.7 & H-1.0). Background "Noise" which is always a concern at higher ISO settings is "VERY LOW" even when using the highest ISO-6400 setting in low light using NO Flash and ambient lighting. I was amazed at how little noise that was detectable in the darker areas & blacks of the photos. JUST AMAZING picture quality which will add to the value of this camera every wedding I shoot allowing my customers to enjoy the highest in quality low light shots and enabling me to use every low light & creative lighting trick in the book now.
I could go on for days about this camera but I'll spare you any further technical details you may not be able to understand anyway. If your interested in further details there are tons of reviews online you could read by doing a simple google search. But for me, The bottom line is that by owning this camera and using it for my customers, YOU benefit from all this wonderful gadgetry in the end. It gives me the necessary tools to provide my clients with the highest quality photos to capture their memories for generations to come. Which is by all intended purposes the reason I do this in the first place ! Having the ability to provide a crisp, clean & VIVID image every shot that can been printed from a small 4" x 6" standard print all the way up to 30" x 40" Canvas master pieces and beyond is something that is very important for the finished product.
This will be my final blog entry of 2007, but 2008 is just 24 hours away and I'll start doing what I do all over again, shooting pictures and enjoying every click of the shutter ! I've started creating all NEW Projects and packages for the new year & Bookings for 2008 and even deep into 2009 are being reserved now, so call soon to book your special day before it's taken !
So for now, From my family to yours - THANK YOU FOR YOUR BUSINESS - "HAPPY NEW YEAR" and may 2008 Bring you Good Health and Happiness !

Best Regards,
Bill Pador