IDIC Photo Blog

Video on the Nikon D90 / D5000

2009-09-23T10:32:00.003-04:00

Great post over at Scott Kelby's blog on using the video features on the D90 / D5000 or the D300s.

http://www.scottkelby.com/blog/2009/archives/6620

Fashion for a Cause with Deepak Perwani in Arlington, Virginia

2009-08-21T10:26:00.005-04:00

On Saturday August 15, 2009 IDIC Photo had an opportunity to cover a fashion show fundraiser at The Westin in Arlington Virginia. The event dubbed 'Fashion for a Cause' was held to benefit the internally displaced people (IDPs) of Pakistan's northern areas that have had to move from their homes due to the fight against the Taliban and extremists. The event featured an exclusive fashion show by renowned Pakistani designer Deepak Perwani. Keynote speakers included: Dr. Nasim Ashraf, Congressman Jim Moody, Deepak Parwani and Kate Michael (Miss D.C. 2006 and founder, www.KstreetKate.com). Event management was done by Sofia HD and the Decor, Design & Marketing was by IDIC's partner Pink Moon, She Said. The event also included auctioning off of some of the outfits as well as a cricket bat of Shahid Afridi that he used in the winning match of the Twenty20 World Cup. Event proceeds were donated to The American Fund for Human Development (AFHD) AFHD is a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) nonprofit -Tax ID # 20-1339408

Some shots from the evening (many more in the Deepak Perwani Photos Gallery on the IDIC Website)

Rehearsals before the show

Deepwak Perwani directing the rehearsals

Kate Michael keynote

Deepak Perwani

Quick Nikon 28mm distortion test

2009-06-08T20:02:00.008-04:00

The old Nikon Nikkor 28mm f/2.8 Ai-s is regarded as one of Nikon's sharpest lenses ever with zero distortion. Here is a quick comparison with the AF-S Nikon 17-35mm f/2.8 at 28mm. The photo below was taken with the manual focus 28mm f/28 Ai-S. Roll over the image to see the photo taken with the 17-35mm f/2.8 at 28mm and notice the visible barrel distortion in the zoom lens.

Here is the classic 28mm f/2.8 Ai-s that we at IDIC photo use for situations where a wide-angle with zero distortion and extreme close focus is desired.

Jim Goldstein's Lens Rental Giveaway

2009-06-02T11:20:00.002-04:00

Renowned photographer and blogger Jim Goldstein is giving away one week lens rental from BorrowLenses.com on his blog Check it out!

Pink Moon, She Said -- Event Design and Planning Consultants

2009-04-20T22:12:00.002-04:00

IDIC Photo is pleased to be partnering with Pink Moon, She Said -- a premier event design and planning group for the Washington, D.C., Virginia and Maryland region.

Whether you want a wildly imaginative wedding, a flawless corporate meeting, an exclusive soiree at home or a festive gala outdoors—talk to Pink Moon, She Said and turn one ordinary day into a day to remember.

Imagine. Experience.

Meet the mooncatchers at http://pinkmoonshesaid.com

Nikon D5000 Preview at Ace Photo

2009-04-18T17:39:00.006-04:00

Ace Photo in Ashburn Virginia held their semi-annual "demo day" today. IDIC Photo had posted a hands-on preview of the Nikon D700 at Ace photo last year right after it was launched, and this morning we had the pleasure of playing around with the just-announced Nikon D5000! For an added-bonus the lens mounted on the D5000 was the new AF-S Nikkor 35mm f/1.8. Derek, the Nikon rep, informed us that we had in our hands one of the first production models. Here is a brief summary of our impressions and some quick shots taken with the D700.

- The D5000 is bigger than the D40/40x/60 but smaller than the D90. This has been clear from the DPreview analysis but holding it in our hands it definitely seemed smallish but not to small. A nice package with just the right heft for a vacation/street photography/around-the-house camera with awesome image quality.

- The swivel screen is nice but the lower resolution as compared to the newer models is disappointing. We have gotten used to the sharp resolution of the D300/3/700/90

- The sensor is the supposedly the same as the D90 and the quick shots we made with the 35mm f/1.8 were sharp and clear and free of noise upto ISO1600. According to Derek the initial batch of 35mm f/1.8 sold out everywhere and they should be shipping new batches soon.

- The 35mm f/1.8 itself is a beauty and provides the "normal" 50mm-equivalent fov on the DX sensor. It balances very nice on the D5000 and this could be all the camera someone could need for street photography.

- The video mode is pretty much the same as the D90 and not something to get very excited about. However, it can come in handy for the quick movie clip when you do not have a camcorder around.

D5000 as captured by the D700 w/ 105mm f/2.8 VR Micro

The new AF-S Nikkor 35mm f/1.8 DX lens

Size comparison: D5000 w/ 35mm f/1.8 (and hood) and D60 with 18-55 Kit lens

Size comparison: D5000 w/ 35mm f/1.8 (without hood) and D60 with 18-55 Kit lens

Many more scene modes than the D40/40x/60

Washington D.C. Auto Show 2009

2009-02-10T22:13:00.004-05:00

IDIC Photo got a chance to take some shots at the 2009 Washington D.C. Auto Show held at the Convention Center. Not in any official capacity but as a visitor on a regular weekend day. Covering a car show is interesting and presents its specific sets of challenges. One has to ensure that the car shots are "clean" and composed in a way that people milling about or getting in and out of cars do not ruin the shot. The lighting is less than ideal so fast glass and a good (read Full frame) camera body are very helpful. We took along the FX Sensor Nikon D700 and decided to use two lenses: 1) Nikkor 28mm f/2.8 Ai-s (a more detailed review of this manual-focus Nikkor gem will follow in the blog in the future), and 2) the venerable Nikkor 85mm f/1.4 IF D.

Here are a few shots from the car show that came out nicely and show the sleek cars in all their colorful glory.

Rocklite performs at Gloria Jean's Coffees in Lahore

2008-12-02T11:45:00.007-05:00

IDIC Photo had the opportunity to capture a live performance of an up and coming "underground" rock band in Lahore Pakistan -- Rocklite. We were getting a latte at the newly opened Gloria Jeans Coffees cafe in DHA Lahore and noticed that Rocklite were the performers for the open mic night the cafe holds on Saturdays. Luckily we had our Nikon D700 with us and decided to stick around for a few songs and capture the mood of the band. The D700's low-light performance shone through and we were able to get some excellent results even at ISO 4000 to 5000.

Rocklite members:

Rizwan ul Haq - Guitars & Vocals (Rizwan was a guitarist for the pioneer Pakistani band Vital Signs)
Allan Smith - Drums and Vocals
Pietro Tilli - Keyboard & Vocals
Imran Hanan - Bass & Backup Vocals

The band can be reached at rene_allan@hotmail.com

Mona & Nauman: Valima Reception in Hagerstown, MD

2008-11-23T23:24:00.010-05:00

IDIC Photo covered the beautiful and elegant valima reception of Mona and Nauman in Hagerstown, Maryland a few weeks ago. The reception tent was setup in a beautiful location besides a stream making for a very picturesque setting. The stage colors and decorations were awesome and IDIC Photo's cool-flo daylight balanced lighting set on the stage ensured the photos came out great. Here are some shots from the day.

The very professional and elegant event management services were provided by Pranava Events & Weddings

2-year old photoshoot in Washington D.C.

2008-09-23T21:53:00.010-04:00

Some shots from IDIC Photo's photoshoot of a 2-year old in Washington D.C. from last weekend. It was a beautiful day and early fall was in the air -- you can almost see some leaves turning color. We shot in the family's home, the child's room with his fave toys, in a nearby park (he loved the swings!) and in their backyard.

Fatima and Scott: Traditional Pakistani Wedding in Richmond, Virginia

2008-09-16T23:16:00.011-04:00

IDIC Photo covered Fatima and Scott's traditional Pakistani wedding a few weeks ago in Richmond, Virginia. Their 'mehendi' (Henna) ceremony was a colorful, joyous affair full of dancing, singing and traditions. The regal and elegant reception was held the following day. For the bride and groom portraits we were able to utilize some excellent outdoors lighting as well as our cool-flo studio lights. Here are some shots from the two days.

Gear and glass used:

Nikon D300
Nikon 17-55mm f/2.8
Nikon 50mm f/1.8
Nikon 18-200mm VR f/3.5-5.6
SB-600
Britek "Cool Flo" Daylight Balanced continuous flourescent lights

IDIC Photo covers celebrity baker Warren Brown's 'Cakelove' book-signing event

2008-09-13T23:16:00.014-04:00

This afternoon IDIC Photo had the opportunity to cover the book-signing event of Warren Brown's new book - 'Cakelove' at the Barnes and Noble in Tyson's Corner Virginia. Warren Brown is a lawyer-turned-baker and has been featured on the Oprah Winfrey Show and now has his own Food Network show - Sugar Rush. Warren gave a humorous and informative talk about his passion for baking cakes and the entrepreneurial challenges encountered along the way.

Here are some shots from our coverage of the event. Lighting was quite bad but the D300 with the 50mm f/18 produced some excellent shots:

Engadget.com's roundup of Nikon D700 reviews

2008-09-09T12:44:00.003-04:00

Engadget posted an excellent round-up of Nikon D700 reviews here:

http://www.engadget.com/2008/09/08/nikon-d700-review-roundup/

As we had previously posted in our hands-on with the Nikon D700, it is essentially all the features of the bigger, heavier $5,000 D3 in a D300 body. Follow the review pointers in the Engadget post for more detailed analyses.

Nikon D40 and D300 High ISO Comparison

2008-08-26T23:04:00.000-04:00

We at IDIC Photo are very happy with the performance of the Nikon D300 -- its tone, color rendition and the 51-point auto-focus are second to none. And while it does not have the unbelievable low-noise performance of the full-frame D3 or the new D700 or the Canon 5D, it does a pretty decent job upto ISO 1600 to 3200. What surprised us is that Nikon's entry-level D40 is no slouch either when it comes to low-light high ISO performance! There are several high-ISO shootouts already posted around the web including Ken Rockwell's comparison. Posted below are some test shots we took with the D40 and D300 at ISO1600 and 3200 that re-affirm the findings.

All shots were taken with very low tungsten light source in the room and in manual mode at f/2.8 and 1/30 sec using the Nikon 50mm f/1.8 lens.

ISO1600 - D40 image on the left; D300 on the right

Crop from the image:

D300 image on the left; D40 on the right (Note the doll's head is larger in the D300 image due to the higher resolution but it appears to lose some details due to the D300's built-in noise reduction)

ISO3200 - D40 image on the left; D300 on the right

IDIC Photo participates in Scott Kelby's Worldwide Photowalk - Aug 23, 2008

2008-08-23T20:15:00.001-04:00

I got the chance to join in the D.C. morning Photowalk as part of Scott Kelby's Worldwide Photowalk. Over 200 cities (including Dubai, Karachi, Islamabad, Delhi, Mumbai) around the world hosted photowalks today with over 7,500 photographers signed-up to participate! Per Scott Kelby's advice on gear for the walk, I decided to travel light and just brought the Nikon D300 with 18-200mm VR lens (Scott was walking with the exact same setup).

The D.C. walk was led by Jeff Revell and he was actually gracioius enough to lead two walks (morning and afternoon) due to great interest in the D.C. area. To be clear, the walk was actually NOT in D.C. but Old Town Alexandria -- we started off at Founder's park and weaved our way through streets, waterfront and parks to the Torpedo Factory. The weather was perfect in the morning -- around 72F and mostly cloudy for very soft lighting.

The best part about photowalks is getting to meet other photographers in the area. I noticed that Jeff was shooting with the D3 so I quickly bounced some thoughts off him about the D3 vs the new D700 (both full frame). I had to leave early but I understand that the group got some brunch and coffee at the end while engaging in some vigorous
chimping!

Here are some Flickr groups for D.C. and other cities:

Some of my shots from the morning:

Baby photoshoot in Arlington, VA

2008-08-06T20:47:00.000-04:00

A few shots from our photo session this past weekend of a cute 3-month old baby boy. He was a champ and even took a power nap during the shoot! Mom and dad did a great job as well (some of the best family pictures we capture are always ones with mom (and/or dad) showing their natural love and affection for the baby in a candid manner.

IDIC Photo recommends Cafe Rumi in Ashburn, VA

2008-08-03T22:50:00.000-04:00

IDIC Photo highly recommends Cafe Rumi -- a family-run, cosy little cafe in Ashburn, VA just off Waxpool Rd (about 1.5 miles from Wegman's and the AOL campus). The owner/chef has had French culinary training and they bake all their pastries and bread on premises. Coffee is excellent too. They have delicious sandwiches (all zabihah halal meat) and have recently started breakfast omelettes as well. Here is another glowing review by a blogger.

Some shots we took at breakfast this morning.

IDIC Photo's Cool-Flo Studio Portrait Lighting

2008-08-02T23:20:00.000-04:00

At IDIC Photo we often have to travel to client sites for portrait sessions or need to shoot formal bride & groom photoshoots before a reception. Hence the ability to provide a portable, yet high-quality professional portrait studio complete with lighting is of paramount importance to our business. After a lot of research and trials, we decided to standardize on Britek Continuous Cool-flo Daylight-balanced flourescent lighting (they can be purchased from Amazon.com as well). Cool-flo lighting provides a number of advantages over traditional strobe lighting and especially over older "hot" incandescent / halogen lighting. Scott Kelby sings the praises of cool-flo lighting in Volume 2 of his popular Digital Photography Book and mentions how people he meets are amazed by the results of cool-flo and it is the latest rage in studio portrait photography.

Some advantages of cool-flo over traditional strobes and halogen:

Cool to the touch -- flourescent continuous lighting stays cool even after hours of use. Models do not feel the heat like being in a sauna as compared to halogen lighting.
Green! Use much less power as compared to halogen lights and last much longer.
"What you see is what you get" - while even professional photographers may struggle with flash strobes at times (which go off only for an instance), with cool flo continuous lighting there is no guesswork!
Daylight-balanced light! They produce beautiful, soft light perfect for portraits.

Here are some shots of what IDIC Photo's portable studio based around cool-flo lighting looks like. We have two lamps with 4x daylight-balanced bulbs each providing a total of 1200 Watts-equivalent Cool-flo Flourescent Daylight-balanced Continuous Lighting (isn't that a mouthful!). One of the lamps can serve as the main light, the second one as a hair-light or fill light. We use Lastolite 36" sunlite / softsilver reflectors as well. Simple black or white top-quality muslin cloth backgrounds with stands are also part of the studio setup.

Another view of the portable studio. The image on the right shows the studio packed-up, ready for easy transport to a customer site. Setup and take-down only take approximately 15 minutes each!

We get really good exposures with this setup -- F: 5/6, shutter: 1/60 with ISO 200 which is about ideal for soft, natural looking portraits:

This is the main cool-flo lamp with the diffuser removed:

Nikon SB-600 Bounce flash test with Sto-Fen Omni-Bounce

2008-07-31T23:53:00.000-04:00

All photographers know that using direct flash is a big no-no -- it is absolutely the last resort, no-other-trick-up-our-sleeves kind of light. It produces harsh shadows and the typical washed out colors associated with flash photography. Strobist.com is a great resource for off-camera flash and strobe techniques. However in this post we at IDIC Photo explore the next best thing to off-camera flash -- bounce flash. Most external flashes provide the ability to change the angle of the flash lamp so that it can be bounced off the ceiling or a wall (white ceilings and walls work best for obvious reasons). Even the excellent $100 Nikon SB-400 can be used in bounce mode. In this post we present various shots taken with the Nikon SB-600 with direct flash, bounce flash at different angles, and then bounce flash with a Sto-Fen Omni-Bounce attached to diffuse light.

First, the setup: a doll and stuffed toy serve as our subjects. Nikon D40 mounted on a Manfrotto tripod. All shots were taken with the Nikon 18-200mm VR at 65mm in Apperture-priority mode (F5) and Auto-ISO. There was some tungsten-ambient light in the room but not much.

1. Direct Flash. Notice the washed-out colors and harsh shadows. The second photo below is with the Omni-bounce and even with direct flash it manages to diffuse the light and reduces the shadows to produces a more pleasing image.

SB-600 Direct flash (head facing forward

SB-600 Direct flash with Sto-Fen Omni-Bounce (head facing forward)

2. SB-600 head at 45 degrees

SB-600 Bounced 45 degrees

SB-600 Bounced 45 degrees with Sto-Fen Omni-Bounce

3. SB-600 head at 75 degrees

SB-600 Bounced 75 degrees

SB-600 Bounced 75 degrees with Sto-Fen Omni-Bounce

All images are straight out of the camera. It is clear that even though bouncing the light produces a very good result, the Sto-Fen Omni-Bounce improves that further by 1) diffusing the light even more, and 2) bouncing some light straight-back (a bounce-card effect). What I did not compare was the difference in light thrown by a bounce card vs Sto-fen. Perhaps in a future post.

Using window light for portraits

2008-07-27T23:58:00.002-04:00

You will often hear photographers raving about window light -- especially for portraits. Scott Kelby, Joe McNally are among the few who have included examples of portraits taken with this wonderful, soft light. At IDIC Photo we try to leverage window light as well wherever possible. When doing formal portraits at a client's home, we try to setup our portable studio (background stand, muslin cloth background, fill light) near a north-facing window. This casts a beautfiul, warm light that is perfect for head-and-shoulders shots and even 3/4 portraits. An example of a portrait taken using window light (with some bounce flash and a lastolite reflector used for fill) can be viewed at http://www.idic-photo.com/gallery/5120971_hhS2h

Scott Kelby announces Lightroom 2 for Digital Photographers

2008-07-25T14:41:00.000-04:00

IDIC Photo is a big fan of Adobe Lightroom and we have been using the Lightroom 2 Beta since it came out. Adobe nailed it as a great workflow (AND basic editing) tool needed by busy digital photographers -- whether amateur or professionals or prosumers. We are also big fans of Scott Kelby's and had no hesitation in ordering his new book on Adobe Lightroom 2 that he announced today on his blog. We will post a review of the book (and more thoughts on Lightroom 2) later.

OPEN Washington D.C. Chapter's Annual Picnic

2008-07-21T11:29:00.000-04:00

I covered the OPEN Washington D.C. Chapter's Annual Picnic yesterday. It was at Lake Fairfax Park in Virginia and it was a HOT (and I mean 100F HOT) day! But still, the picnic was a hit with great food and fun activities for the kids. Check out some photos below converted to B&W in Adobe Lightroom or head over to the gallery at IDIC Photo to view more.

Hands on with the Nikon D700

2008-07-19T14:03:00.000-04:00

I just got back from Ace Photo in Ashburn, Virginia where they had arranged a hands-on with the brand-new full-frame Nikon D700 (read preview at Ken Rockwell) and what an awesome camera it is! I played with it quite a bit; they had a bunch of lenses and a D3 and D300 for comparison. It is essentially a D3 in a D300's smaller body. The only negative I could see with the D700 was that the D3 and even the D300 have 100% viewfinder while the D700 is 95% (though the D700's viewfinder is physically bigger and brighter almost like the D3's which is beautiful). Like the D3, the D700 is a low-noise wonder at high ISOs and it ideal for low-light photography. As Derek from Nikon USA aptly put it -- "ISO3200 is the new ISO800".

A lot of prosumers showed up to check out the D700 and some had even ordered it already. it should be shipping by end of July for a street price of $2995.95 -- about 2K less than the D3.

Check out some of the shots I took of the D700 with a variety of lenses.

Fruit tart

2008-07-18T22:27:00.001-04:00

My wife got this colorful, yummy-looking fruit tart today from Wholefoods market and of course, I had to shoot it before it became dessert! I used a simple white cardboard and shot it with window light, some SB-400 bounced off the ceiling for fill.

Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations Photoblog

2008-07-18T21:16:00.000-04:00

Hello world! I'm AJ and I recently launched a photography website - www.idic-photo.com and thought having a blog focused on photos and photography would complement the site perfectly. IDIC Photo strives to provide excellent photography services at extremely competitive rates in the Washington D.C. metro area (Virginia, Maryland, D.C.).

I have also maintained a pro Flickr account for several years and my photostream has received about 30,000 views. I'll use this blog to showcase portfolio photos, other interesting shots from everyday and also to comment on photography technology in general (e.g. I plan to attend the Nikon D700 hands-on at ACE Photo tomorrow in Ashburn, VA).