(*Disclaimer* this is a post intended for my fellow photogs out there. If you are a bride and are wondering why the heck you are staring at a picture of a lens on a wedding photographers blog… Please don’t be alarmed, I am at a wedding convention geeking out with the good people of Nikon and there great products. Normal Programing will return to this blog soon. Please visit the website or scroll down a couple pages. )

Earlier today I posted a comment on twitter about this lens being a game changer for Nikon… and I have gotten many of the responses that I would expect when making a comment like that. One of the more common ones was, “why?” Well as many of you already know I am just a wedding photographer, I am not a optical guru or some kind of star product reviewer. I am pretty much just like you., and like many of you when it came time to buy my pro level camera to take my business to another level, I did my homework. I would have to say that when you do your homework for that kind of thing about 90% of the time you end up getting pointed to Canon with comments like “they have superior glass” or “they have the best prime selection”… and you know what? I think most of us take the bait, hook line and sinker. That is TOTALLY okay though, because it is the photographer that uses the camera to make an image, not the other way around, right? Not to mention the fact that there is a lot of truth behind the statement about canon’s lens quality, it is good stuff. The only problem is that most people stop there with their research and barely even graze over some of Nikon’s amazing offerings… I always guessed that this was due to the fact that less wedding photographers used Nikon than canon, so naturally there would be less buzz going around… That is all about to change. Mark my words, this new lens is going to give Nikon a huge lead in the world of wide angle primes. I have been lucky enough to have been using it for the last couple days and I am even more lucky to be having one arrive at my doorstop very soon here for continued use. I can promise you I have never worked with a more perfect lens in my entire life. It is about as close to flawless as you are going to get. It has no discernible distortion at the edges and it has some of the most beautiful creamy Bokeh I have ever laid my eyes upon. The auto focus is LIGHTING FAST and I have yet to have it miss even when I had it at our dimly lit dinner last night with the crew. It is also amazingly sharp… but I will get in to that on another post (I am going to put up some cropped in images with the originals next to them so you can see the incredible detail this lens picks up). If you do choose to manual focus, there is a easy manual switch on the barrel. Once you have clicked it over the focus ring spins smoothly and consistently. It does have a rather long pull but that makes it perfect for very small focus adjustments. Oh, and it loves to be shot wide open… I have rarely pulled this thing out of 1.4 the entire time I have had it, and I absolutely love it. In short it blows any other lens I have tried, directly out of the water.

This lens is going to be a “game changer” by truly evening the playing field. Nikon has plenty of wonderful primes, like the 85mm the 50mm and the little known but still amazing 135. But now Nikon shooters finally have a world class wide angle prime to call their own. It is also important to note that people beginning to take their photography more seriously will have a opportunity to weigh out which camera company they wish to support based on more factors than simply “the other guys have more primes”. If you have any specific questions about the piece of glass that I am currently in love with, please feel free to e-mail me or ask me on my social media profiles. I have a pretty cool in road with some absolutely brilliant people at Nikon and I would be very happy to get some solid answers for you.

I should have another post for you all in the morning or this evening with some more of the awesomeness I am experiencing here at WPPI… I might even have a couple important opinions that I need to express about Nikon as a company that might make you think a little.

WPPI has been a pretty amazing experience so far. I have had the opportunity to meet some amazing people, take a couple great workshops and classes, and use some fantastic gear. I am really sitting here at my computer typing this on the eve of my second day here, but my first day was so amazing that I can not help but want to tell you about it.

So after my flight landed and I was done getting settled I headed down to the convention floor to check out everything and get registered. I have never attended a WPPI or any other photography convention of any sort for that matter, so I really had no idea what to expect. Needless to say I was simply blown away. After getting my VIP badge and meeting a couple people I headed back to my room to take a little rest before my top secret Nikon meeting later that evening.

At 3:45 I decided it would be a pretty good idea for me to get to the meeting a bit early. I arrived at the front desk of the Wolfgang Puck Bistro in the casino of the MGM and walked up to the front desk… Being a bit nervous, I wasn’t sure what to say… “Hi, I am hear for the top secret meeting”,??? No, that did sound right… “Hi, I am here for the free Nikon gear”??? Nope, that wasn’t it either… Would they have my name on the reservation?… seems silly now that I am thinking about it, but think about how goofy you can think sometimes when you are really excited. I decided to take the safe route and just say I was there with Nikon. It worked. I was taken back to a private glassed in party room that doubled as a wine cellar of sorts with tons of bottles of wine all stacked celling high in glass enclosures… but it wasn’t the wine that was getting my attention. It wasn’t even the two Nikon reps in the room.

It was the table full of lenses and cameras.

This was no small grouping of equipment here either… there was just about 5 of every thing that Nikon makes.

I stood there for a second, and after I got out of my state of shock I was finally able to introduce myself and talk to the people responsible for giving me such a awesome opportunity. It was a super fun time. We all sat around and talked about gear, lenses and photography. And then I got to fill my bag. Thats right… I SAID FILL MY BAG. Here is a list of what I left with;

D700
AF-S Nikkor 24mm f/1.4 ED
AF-S Nikkor 14-24mm f/2.8G ED
AF-S Nikkor 16-35mm f/4G ED VR
AF-S Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 ED
AF-S Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 ED VR

It is a heavy bag. =)

It was almost hard to leave the meeting with everything… I felt like I was doing something wrong… I almost felt like maybe I should run just in case they changed their minds. 

After that meeting I met up with a buddy and we went and did some shooting… I mean you gotta go play with the new toy right? I have posted a couple shots below for you all to check out, mind you I did not process these in my normal style and I was still getting used to the camera so don’t go getting all judgemental. =)
They were all shot with the 24mm 1.4. It is the best lens I have ever used. PERIOD. Nikon is never getting it back from me.

I also, wanted to give a shout out to Sandisk and Lowepro for hooking me up with some cards and an awesome backpack.

More to come soon… like this afternoon soon.

I am posting a blog post without an image for the first time today… I am guessing that I am going to have plenty of images to post over the coming days. So I figured I should give you a break.

In exactly 3 hours time I will be at John Wayne airport boarding my flight to Las Vegas for my very first WPPI. I am so excited that I could barely sleep. I just kept checking my list of “to do’s”; I have got my Revo sunglasses, my new Oakley luggage packed, my awesome new Franklin & Gower slacks, my Polaroid loaded with film and a big smile on my face.

Only missed one thing… my camera.

Or did I?

Nope, didn’t miss it. It is staying home for this trip. After I am finally settled in my room at the MGM, I will be making my way to a “top secret” location. At this location known only to myself and a couple other lucky folks we will be handed some of Nikon’s best, brand new gear. Myself and a couple other people will have the pleasure of using this gear and evaluating it over the next few days. I am going to be tweeting updates about what I think of the gear on my twitter account several times a day. You can also expect about two blog posts a day reviewing the products I am using and how they are working out for me during my activities at the show. Now I am no imaging rocket scientist or anything… so you can expect my opinions and reviews to be pretty down to earth.

One more thing, I promised that I would post my schedule daily, so here is my first day. Not a whole lot going on… wait for tomorrow… that is when things start to get crazy!

-10am // touch-down in Las Vegas and head for the MGM to get checked in.
-4pm // head to the top secret location and get geared up.
-6pm // keynote address (Gregory Heisler)
-7:30pm – 8:30pm // welcome reception
-8:30pm // Dinner with Nikon

Looking forward to an exciting couple of days. Please feel free to follow me on twitter or add me on facebook by following the links at the top of the page.

Oh, and I also wanted to say a big I LOVE YOU to my amazingly wonderful wife and kids. I will miss you all very much and be thinking about you everyday I am away.

Sounds unbelievable right?? I never in a million years thought I would write something like that.

I am still a bit in disbelief.

Last Friday I received a completely unexpected e-mail that pretty much blew my mind; “We love your work!” they said. “We want to send you to WPPI”, “We want to give you our newest, most awesome cameras and we want to hear what you think of them”… Needless to say my jaw dropped. I think I might have actually danced a little jig (it is all kind of a blur).

The reason I am being given this awesome opportunity… well I honestly have no clue why they picked me, but I am not going to look a gift horse in the mouth… Nikon has asked that during my visit to WPPI I spend some time using their cameras and lenses, and let them know what I think of them. I absolutely intend to do just that… I mean how could I say no to an offer like that? “Would you like to play with some of the best imaging gear in the world?”… uh, duh? where do I sign up, right?  Many of you already know that I currently utilize products of a different camera manufacturer for most of my shooting. Which makes it even more exciting that Nikon has approached me to do this. I am a huge fan of their products, just ask my buddy Gavin Wade. I am constantly harassing him to let me mess with his D3, luckily he is always a good sport about it (thanks Gavin). So here’s the thing; if any camera manufacturer is going to pry my current camera out of my clutches, it is going to have to be something really special. Lucky for them (and me) I have been thinking about changing my current kit over to one of the “other guys” for a little while. This experience might just be the push I need.

During my trip I will be definitely be putting all of that awesome gear through the ringer. You better believe I will be blogging and tweeting all of my findings and opinions, as well as all of the awesome events and workshops I will be attending and participating in. Oh, and I get to play with the brand spanking new AF-S NIKKOR 24mm f/1.4G ED , so stay tuned for a review of that bad boy. =) I hope that you will follow along and offer up your opinions or anything you would like to see me try with the gear.

So, there you have it. This Sunday morning I am getting on a airplane and flying to Vegas. For my very first WPPI and NIKON has been gracious enough to pick up the tab for the whole thing. Since I have never been to WPPI, I am not exactly sure what to expect. I know that I will be attending some pretty amazing workshops, and doing my best to meet and network with as many people as possible.

So, if you see a guy with a Nikon camera, a scruffy stubbly beard, spiky hair and a big smile on his face… please come over and introduce yourself…

I would love to meet you.

(If you would like to follow what I am up too during my visit, please add me on Twitter HERE, you can also friend me on Facebook HERE. I will be updating my status on both regularly during my visit.)

I am getting asked more and more about how I make my photos look the way they do.

I tried explaining some of my PP technique today… I think I kinda failed.

I thought it would be simple, but when it really comes down to it there are a lot of different reasons my photos look the way they do. If any of you out there have questions about how I do what I do, I am more than happy to share… just send me an e-mail and I will do my best to answer any questions you might have (you can also ask HERE).
In the mean time here is one of my favorite shots. The final product is first.