PDN PhotoPlus Expo '09 - Javet's Center NY City

* Shot Hand Held @ Demo Booth - Click to Enlarge

Nikkor 18-200mm VR 1/80  f/5.6 ISO 1000

[10-24-09] - Well I just got home from attending the PDN PhotoPlus International Expo @ the Javets Center in NY City. It's so damn expensive to even just ENTER the City these days, let alone trying to find a place to park and having to pay BIG $$$ to park your car. $8 for the Tunnel, $28 to park the car for 3 hours I mean come on $36 AND a 3 BLOCK walk before I even saw the Javets Center LOL. Anyway, I finally got in and received my badge holder, good thing I pre-registered and already had my paper work, the line was crazy huge and it would have been another 30 min. before I got to enjoy myself. The first thing I saw when I entered is the HUGE display NIKON had, it was easily TWICE the size of Canons booth and they had a line around the corner with people waiting to enter a drawing for a pair of Vespa Moped / Motor Bikes. So I jumped in the line as well where I received a nice 2010 Nikon Calendar, a Handful of Nikon Lapel Pins, (2) DVD Copies of the FULL Version of CAPTURE NX2 with a 60 day free trial attached to them and a bunch of other goodies I haven't checked out yet. Seemed like everyone in the place was carrying a Bright Yellow Nikon shopping bag.

A short while later I met the famous 'Scott Kelby' and had a few words with him about his Photoshop CS3/4 & Lightroom 2 books that I bought and have helped me do some wonderful things with those programs, he was very appreciative that I enjoyed his work so much. Silly me forgot to get a picture taken with him though LOL I would have felt funny asking anyway. Then I went over to the Nikon Lens & Camera display where they had a bunch of new gear to look at, all their new bodies like the D3s, D300s, D5000 and a bunch of new glass. They also had their HUGE 600mm f/4 Prime Lens mounted on a half dozen D3s's to lpay around with, all I have to say is WOW what a lens ! The images were so crisp and clean and had no problem shooting frames at ISO 6400 across the entire expo floor. I should have stuck one of my memory cards in the D3s so I could have shown off some of the image (I wan't thinking as usual LOL) but they had the camera's set up in DEMO mode so you could at least see the images on the LCD and I was really impressed. It should be impressive for the price tag, $10,299 YIKES !

I then waited about 15 min. to speak to a rep in reference to getting some warranty work done on one of my lenses and getting my D300 tuned up since I have around 100,000 frames on her now since Nov. '07. I was kind of disappointed that there weren't more actual VENDORS there where you could purchase some of the new stuff they had on display. I even looked at the Brand New Nikon Coolpix S640 that was just released a few weeks ago and needing a quick simple Point & shoot for myself so I don't have to carry around my big gear all the time out in the car I decided to pick one up when I returned home. It's rated as the fastest focusing compact on the market now and I'll tell you first hand it IS FAST. Very simple operation, clean sharp images and lots of P&S toys and program modes to fool around with, it will suit my needs just fine.

I do have one very cool story for you, I stepped into the TAMRAC booth and looked at their new gear bags when one of the reps came over to me and asked if I was able to get my D300 into the smaller Tamrac 'Cyber 5' back pack I was carrying since it's not built for a D300 with a battery pack attached, so I told him it JUST fits along with 2 additional lenses, a SB-900 flash and some cleaning gear without a problem, he was impressed to say the least. Then I spotted their 8 set battery pouch on display that I have been looking all over for and have been unable to find, I told him that I was an avid Tamrac user and have over 6 of their gear bags along with 10 lens case attachments , filter bag, water bottle holders etc. So he told me I should stop by B&H to get the battery pouch but then realized it was Saturday and they were closed.

This is where the story gets cool, a woman rep who had been listening to my story of how happy of a Tamrac Customer I was motioned to the guy I was talking to, he proceeded to take the brand new battery pouch off the display rack, rip the packaging off and then handed it to me saying "Here Bill, just take this one for being such a loyal Tamrac Customer" I was FLOORED. I mean it's only a $25 piece of gear but he didn't have to do that and it really made me happy that I was being given the item for FREE that was only supposed to be used for display. What a wonderful gesture from Tamrac and now I know why I have spent well over $750 on their gear bags & accessories over the years. Too bad I didn't admire one of their new big bags that go for $300 LOL and got one of those on the cuff haha.

The rest of the Expo had TONS of Printing Companies showing off their new Wedding Album lines, various papers and textures along with other items like family books etc. that they print.

* FREE OFFERS: If anyone is interested in trying out the printing company 'NATIONS PHOTO LAB' I have a Promo Code for $25 worth of FREE Prints just for signing up for a free account. DIRECTIONS FOR USE: Go to www.nationsphotolab.com, Sign up for a free account, Download the free ROES ordering software, Type in PRMO CODE "PP99" in the Review Order Screen when your done placing your order. NOTE * It says for NEW CUSTOMERS ONLY, VALID FOR ONE TIME USE, ONE PER ACCOUNT, NOT VALID WITH ANY OTHER ORDER. So there you go, can't beat $25 in free prints and you never know you might like their services and buy more in the future ;)

Also for anyone who is interested in trying out the full version of Nikon's CAPTURE NX 2 I am giving away both copies that I received at the show (I Own the Full Version already) to the first (2) people who read my blog and send an email request to billpadorphotos@gmail.com for the DVD package, I'll even pay for the S&H. Just provide you Name & Mailing Address in the email. I will notify the winners with a response and let those who missed out that they were too late.

All in all it was a nice afternoon and I got a few cool shots inside the expo along with some of the inside of the Javets Center which has a really cool interior design. Below you'll find some of the images I shot during the days festivities and the street shots I took during my 3 block walk to & from my car.

~Bill~

* Click on Images to Enlarge *

 

 Outside Javets center

 

Building down the street

NY City Jacob Javets Center

"LIVE" Rock Band Shoot Tonight 10/17/09

"Devil You Know"

10/17/09 - Well I'm making final preparations for my LIVE stage shoot tonight for my clients "Devil You Know" who are one of New Jersey's hottest cover rock bands and are presently on their "Ripped & Hammered Tour" playing in NJ-NY-CT. Preparing for a shoot in front of a live audience can be tricky and you'll want to have a game plan before you go in so you don't look like your lost before you even get started. Most people who don't shoot for a living have no idea how much goes into an ON LOCATION photo shoot but most of your planning will take place on the fly once you arrive at the venue and see what actual space provides you with so you can get your creative juices flowing. Shooting a job like this can be very exciting even for a seasoned veteran and forces you to be at the top of your game come show time.

I'll be trying some innovative off camera lighting techniques with them tonight utilizing some specialty lenses.

Gear / Lenses I'll be Packing:

• Nikon 10.5mm f/2.8 Fish Eye
• Lens Baby 3G

Along with my favorite fast low light lenses:

• The mighty Nikon 50mm f/1.8 Prime
• Tamron Di II XR 17-50mm f/2.8 Wide Angle
• Tamron 90mm f/2.8 Di XR 1:1 Macro Prime
• I might even try some shots with my walk around Nikon 18-200mm VR from a distance

* Lighting & Fill will consist of (2) Nikon SB-900's and (1) SB-600 shot off camera utilizing Pocket Wizard Plus II's at various angles around the stage and maybe one behind the band for some silhouette shots too. The SB-600 will have a HONL Photo 1/4" Speed Grid attached for concentrated lighting & I'll use one SB-900 with a HONL 5" Speed Snoot & the other SB-900 maybe a small 'Lumiquest' soft box with  both SB-900's with HONL Color Effects filters attached (1 Red - 1 Green) to match the stage lighting and throw some color casting into the mix off the instruments. It's always good to have a PLAN of attack before you head out to a live shoot like this so I go through a half dozen cocktail napkins with chicken scratch & diagrams on them so i have a basic idea of what i want to do once I get to the venue. Preparing for a shoot like this is half the battle and if you have a battle plan drawn it makes life a lot easier but 9 times out of 10 things change once you get there and find out what the area you'll be shooting in will throw you like mirrors & reflective material around the stage, usually very DARK walls with little reflective value, tables & chairs in the way, crap hanging form the ceiling and the list goes on. But at least if you go into the job with a IDEA of what you want to do then you'll go home with more hair in your head rather then pulling it all out 5 min. before show time LOL

OK My Battle Plan is written, Gear bags - tri-pods & lighting mounts are packed, 12 sets of batteries are charged, lenses & sensors are cleaned and all gear has been tested. It's time to Rock & Roll in a few hours and now I'm getting that happy giddy feeling I always get just before an exciting shoot like this. The funny thing is that I'm all nervous now thinking about how I'm going to pull everything together and going over everything in my head how I planned it but once I get to the venue and put that camera around my neck I get this calming feeling over me and everything just comes second nature like I'm a robot and everything works out fine. They say that's the sign of a good professional but I say that's a sign that I've done my job, prepared properly and now it's not WORK but fun time. The WORK part of the job is the preparation & planning, shooting is the pay off and the time we as photographers live for just like a football player gets ready for the big game on Sunday. You never get to see what those guys go through during the week just the rewards of all that time they put in on the practice field.

In the end that's what my clients get, those unique images & snap shots of frozen time forever stamped into digital media, enhanced by the lights & motion of the world around us & captured by an electronic device and the push of a button at just the precise moment bringing joy, laughter & emotions to all that view them. That is the art of PHOTOGRAPHY and I just love it !

* Stop by the Band's "Devil You Know" Website to check these rockers out and Check back here next week for the story on how tonight goes along with some of the images I capture tonight with the full gallery being posted on my web site Bill Pador Photography in about a week.

* REVIEWS COMING SOON *

I mentioned HONL Photo Professional Light Enhancement System above, I'll be writing a full review on the entire line of products soon. They have a great portable light enhancement system for flash guns using a simple yet effective design so that pieces are able to be used together, alone or combined on numerous flashes on your set. The entire system can be had for around $200 and it packs nicely into your gear bag. Consisting of 1/8" & 1/4" Speed Grids, Snoot / Reflectors, Speed Gobo / Bounce Cards, Color Effects Gel Kit which is all tied together using a really cool non-sticking Velcro Speed Strap.

* I'll also be reviewing (2) Lenses: Nikon's 10.5mm f/2.8 Fish Eye & Tamron's 17-50mm Di XR Wide Angle both wonderful fast pieces of glass that should be in every photographers gear bag in my opinion.
* Finally I'll do a write up on the Absolutely Fantastic "SECONIC" L-358 Light Meter w/Pocket Wizard Transmitter Option. This light meter is a photographers dream, very user friendly, easy to operate / quick 20 min. learning curve, affordable cost effective and has wireless operation using the optional RT-32N Pocket Wizard Module