BMR Autowerkes 330D

So I recently got to do a shoot with some friends at BMR Autowerkes (check them out!). The car in question was this white LCI 330D convertible that BMR had done some work on. Not much else to say other than enjoy the pics!

Nikon D7000, 85 mm f/1.4 @ 85mm | 1/5 sec @ f/2.0, ISO 100

Nikon D7000, 85 mm f/1.4 @ 85mm | 1/15 sec @ f/2.0, ISO 100

Nikon D7000, 85 mm f/1.4 @ 85mm | 1/20 sec @ f/2.0, ISO 100

I love the way the headlights look in this photo. Also check out bit of stretch on the fronts

Nikon D7000, 85 mm f/1.4 @ 85mm | 0.5 sec @ f/5.6, ISO 100

Nikon D7000, 85 mm f/1.4 @ 85mm | 1/13 sec @ f/2.0, ISO 100

Nikon D7000, 85 mm f/1.4 @ 85mm | 1/100 sec @ f/2.0, ISO 400

Nikon D7000, 17-55 mm f/2.8 @ 44mm | 1/200 sec @ f/2.8, ISO 800

Minus the front plates, US style. It definitely looks a lot cleaner (had to touch up the drilled holes however!). I also like the angel eyes in this shot.

Nikon D7000, 17-55 mm f/2.8 @ 18mm | 1/100 sec @ f/2.8, ISO 800

And a quick snap of a C63 that attended. Looking forward to see what they have planned for this one!

Lights, Camera, Dog

Yes it has been a long while since my last post. Not much interesting happening in my life unfortunately, but here are a few photos.

I've been experimenting a bit with light painting, specifically light domes. A bit old/overdone by now, but I hadn't done any before, so here's a first shot at them. With a bit of practice should be quite easy to get more consistent domes. I need to adjust the spacing on the LEDs too.

Nikon D7000, 17-55 mm f/2.8 @ 17mm | 58.0 sec @ f/5.6, ISO 100

Nikon D7000, 17-55 mm f/2.8 @ 17mm | 68.0 sec @ f/5.6, ISO 100

And for good measure, here are a few more of Zach being his own cute self.

Nikon D7000, 85 mm f/1.4 @ 85mm | 1/80 sec @ f/1.4, ISO 3200

Teasing him a little while he was snoozing resulted in a warning growl. Nice to showcase the sharpness of the 35mm though.

Nikon D7000, 35 mm f/1.8 @ 35mm | 1/200 sec @ f/2.8, ISO 400

Evo8 strobe shoot

Phew, i've been pretty busy with uni lately, just finished exams, so here goes a slightly belated post. During my 'study vacation' I borrowed some light stands, umbrellas, and triggers for a shoot with a friends' Evo 8 (which you may recognise from an earlier post). It was my first time using umbrellas, so had a bit of fun figuring out how to set them up (protip: learn how to set up your lighting equipment before the shoot :D). Overall i'm pretty happy with the results.

Nikon D7000, 17-55 mm f/2.8 @ 55mm | 1/250 sec @ f/3.5, ISO 400

Nikon D7000, 17-55 mm f/2.8 @ 17mm | 1/250 sec @ f/4.0, ISO 800

Nikon D7000, 17-55 mm f/2.8 @ 17mm | 1/250 sec @ f/4.0, ISO 800

Nikon D7000, 17-55 mm f/2.8 @ 17mm | 1/250 sec @ f/4.0, ISO 800

Nikon D7000, 17-55 mm f/2.8 @ 31mm | 1/100 sec @ f/5.0, ISO 400

Random #1

Nikon D7000, 80-200 mm f/2.8 @ 200mm | 1/8000 sec @ f/4.0, ISO 1000

Nikon D7000, 80-200 mm f/2.8 @ 185mm | 1/400 sec @ f/4.0, ISO 800

D7000

So recently I picked up a D7000, ostensibly for testing purposes only, but it has grown on me, and I may keep it (unfortunately for my bank account). On paper it doesn't seem like the biggest step up from my D90, a few more MP, slightly better high ISO, more AF points. But once i'd shot with it, I noticed how much faster it was (not just the faster FPS), faster and more accurate autofocus. It also meters with my 50/1.4 AI, which is another plus. Oh, and the high ISO is actually amazing. I can shoot at 6400 with a similar noise level to my D90s 1600, and the 14-bit RAW files have a much larger dynamic range, so I can deliberately underexpose to keep my ISO low, and still recover shadow detail. See below for a shot at ISO12800.

The new body has revitalized my 80-200 AF-D. On my D90 the autofocus had a lot of trouble tracking anything, let along a dog in a full out sprint, yet on the D7000 it will nail 80% of the shots. It amazed me by accurately tracking this bird in flight, the slight blur is from the bird moving too fast for me to turn!

Nikon D7000, 80-200 mm f/2.8 @ 200mm | 1/6400 sec @ f/4.0, ISO 800

Nikon D7000, 80-200 mm f/2.8 @ 155mm | 1/1250 sec @ f/4.0, ISO 800

100% crop from above

Nikon D7000, 80-200 mm f/2.8 @ 155mm | 1/1250 sec @ f/4.0, ISO 

Night time street shot. No noise reduction applied here

More BMWs

(Dont miss the photos @ Turrimetta Beach, post below this one!) Small catch up with the guys. In order of appearance: BMW 135i, BMW 125i (white) 'Christine', Merc 250 CGI, Evo VIII

Awesome stance, lowered on KW V1s

Nikon D90, 85 mm f/1.4 @ 85mm | 1/500 sec @ f/2.0, ISO 200

Nikon D90, 85 mm f/1.4 @ 85mm | 1/500 sec @ f/2.0, ISO 200

New projector/angel eyes on the 125i

Nikon D90, 85 mm f/1.4 @ 85mm | 1/500 sec @ f/2.0, ISO 200 

Nikon D90, 18-55 mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 26mm | 1/20 sec @ f/6.3, ISO 400

Nikon D90, 18-55 mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 28mm | 1/20 sec @ f/6.3, ISO 400

More images can be found here

Turrimetta Beach

Earlier this week, I made my first visit to Turimetta Beach; a must-go location for any photography enthusiast. Waking up at 3am wasn't the most fun in the world, but getting there early was worth it. After stumbling around on the beach in the pitch black, we found the famous rock formations and set up our tripods and remote triggers. I finally got another chance to use my NDx8 filter too.

Trying out some Black and White

Nikon D90, 17-55 mm f/2.8 @ 17mm | 119.0 sec @ f/4.0, ISO 400

Nikon D90, 17-55 mm f/2.8 @ 35mm | 20.0 sec @ f/18, ISO 200

Nikon D90, 17-55 mm f/2.8 @ 17mm | 20.0 sec @ f/18, ISO 200

Awesome colors in the sky

Nikon D90, 17-55 mm f/2.8 @ 17mm | 1.3 sec @ f/18, ISO 200 (Stacked Exposures)

I think I could have cropped/framed this one better, but not too sure how

Nikon D90, 17-55 mm f/2.8 @ 24mm | 4.0 sec @ f/18, ISO 200

Nikon D90, 17-55 mm f/2.8 @ 24mm | 1/20 sec @ f/11, ISO 200

And thats that. I will definitely need to revisit with a darker ND filter.