Mixing it up – Oh aperture ring how I love you!

Every now and again it is a good idea to try something new, or in this case, something old. I shoot Nikon and when I first started using their gear I looked down at the aperture ring and thought who the hell would use this, and why do they still put them on?

Whats funny is that I love to shoot with old manual cameras and lenses. I have a few different adapters I use in order to put the older lenses onto my Nikon bodies. Then after all of this time the thought finally came to me to give the aperture ring on my new lenses a shot. When I turned the option on in camera I fell right into step with it. As a matter of fact, it felt far more natural to me to use the ring to adjust the aperture than it does to use the sub command dial.

Now this super feature is not available in all Nikon bodies. Grab your manual and check out the custom functions and see if this is an option for you. If it is, give it a try!

Now go on out and take some pictures!

Mixing it up – Oh aperture ring how I love you!

Every now and again it is a good idea to try something new, or in this case, something old. I shoot Nikon and when I first started using their gear I looked down at the aperture ring and thought who the hell would use this, and why do they still put them on?

Whats funny is that I love to shoot with old manual cameras and lenses. I have a few different adapters I use in order to put the older lenses onto my Nikon bodies. Then after all of this time the thought finally came to me to give the aperture ring on my new lenses a shot. When I turned the option on in camera I fell right into step with it. As a matter of fact, it felt far more natural to me to use the ring to adjust the aperture than it does to use the sub command dial.

Now this super feature is not available in all Nikon bodies. Grab your manual and check out the custom functions and see if this is an option for you. If it is, give it a try!

Now go on out and take some pictures!

From the Vanished Twin Family.

There are going to be some new features on the Vanished Twin Blogs! We have a ton of product reviews coming up this summer, along with a few new features like: Tips and Tricks, Shooting Set Ups, guest bloggers, and a question and answer section.

With the new question and answer feature you can send your questions to: info@vanishedtwin.com or use the Contact page at www.vanishedtwin.com and we will get to them ASAP.

From the Vanished Twin Family.

There are going to be some new features on the Vanished Twin Blogs! We have a ton of product reviews coming up this summer, along with a few new features like: Tips and Tricks, Shooting Set Ups, guest bloggers, and a question and answer section.

With the new question and answer feature you can send your questions to: info@vanishedtwin.com or use the Contact page at www.vanishedtwin.com and we will get to them ASAP.

How I see it

When I set up my shots I tend to not think about what I want lit, but where I want my shadows. I build my images by punching holes in darkness, or obliterating it with light. For me it always comes down to darkness and shadows.

I am very organic in my approach to shooting. The client and I will have our pre-shoot meeting and discuss expectations we both have for the session, and what needs to be done to accomplish our goals. I make sure that we also take some time before talking business to get acquainted, especially if the pre-shoot is our first face to face meeting. Pretty straight forward stuff there, but it is the little things that can make a huge difference on the day of the shoot.

On the day of the shoot I do my best to keep the atmosphere as lite and relaxed as possible. When I am photographing children I will always let them check out my camera before I start shooting, and let them touch some of the buttons. Usually once they see a picture of themselves on the back of the camera they get excited and want to take more photos.

Normally when I photograph children I use a small soft box and Nikon's CLS so I can let the shadows take over the background. I hand hold the soft box in my left hand and the camera in my right armed with a 50mm prime lens wide open. With the soft box close in, the aperture at f/1.8, and the shutter speed around 1/8000, you can let the background be swallowed by shadows and have a very shallow depth of field on top of that. I will use this approach often when I need to work around a cluttered background.

Using high speed sync to push the shadows off the face is one of my favorite lighting techniques. My two go to modifiers to help shape my shadows are the Westcott 60” convertible umbrella and the 28” Apollo soft box. Both of which are very versatile light modifiers with High speed sync.

How I see it

When I set up my shots I tend to not think about what I want lit, but where I want my shadows. I build my images by punching holes in darkness, or obliterating it with light. For me it always comes down to darkness and shadows.

I am very organic in my approach to shooting. The client and I will have our pre-shoot meeting and discuss expectations we both have for the session, and what needs to be done to accomplish our goals. I make sure that we also take some time before talking business to get acquainted, especially if the pre-shoot is our first face to face meeting. Pretty straight forward stuff there, but it is the little things that can make a huge difference on the day of the shoot.

On the day of the shoot I do my best to keep the atmosphere as lite and relaxed as possible. When I am photographing children I will always let them check out my camera before I start shooting, and let them touch some of the buttons. Usually once they see a picture of themselves on the back of the camera they get excited and want to take more photos.

Normally when I photograph children I use a small soft box and Nikon's CLS so I can let the shadows take over the background. I hand hold the soft box in my left hand and the camera in my right armed with a 50mm prime lens wide open. With the soft box close in, the aperture at f/1.8, and the shutter speed around 1/8000, you can let the background be swallowed by shadows and have a very shallow depth of field on top of that. I will use this approach often when I need to work around a cluttered background.

Using high speed sync to push the shadows off the face is one of my favorite lighting techniques. My two go to modifiers to help shape my shadows are the Westcott 60” convertible umbrella and the 28” Apollo soft box. Both of which are very versatile light modifiers with High speed sync.

Blown out Ash

Meta Data
Camera - Konica Minolta 7D
Lens - Tamron 90mm f/2.8
Exposure - 1/45 @ f/2.8
Focal Length - 90mm

Lighting - Brand X strobe
Light Modifier(s) - 60" Westcott shoot through umbrella, and large diffusion panel.
Trigger - Pocketwizard


For this shot I set up a large diffuser for the background and placed a strobe behind it to blow out the background and also to give some back light through her hair.

For the key light I used another strobe shooting through a Westcott 60" shoot through umbrella.
With her looking down her hair fell forward a bit and i increased the power from the light behind her to let the back light eat up some of her hair.

I wanted to capture a high key image of Ashlee and the honesty in her expression.

Blown out Ash

Meta Data
Camera - Konica Minolta 7D
Lens - Tamron 90mm f/2.8
Exposure - 1/45 @ f/2.8
Focal Length - 90mm

Lighting - Brand X strobe
Light Modifier(s) - 60" Westcott shoot through umbrella, and large diffusion panel.
Trigger - Pocketwizard


For this shot I set up a large diffuser for the background and placed a strobe behind it to blow out the background and also to give some back light through her hair.

For the key light I used another strobe shooting through a Westcott 60" shoot through umbrella.
With her looking down her hair fell forward a bit and i increased the power from the light behind her to let the back light eat up some of her hair.

I wanted to capture a high key image of Ashlee and the honesty in her expression.