Brussels Photography

January 6, 2014

Sigma 50mm f/1.4

I have been looking for a 50mm lens to use with my Nikon D800E for a while. Unlike Canon, Nikon doesn't have a beautiful 50mm f/1.2. The Nikon options are the f/1.8D or G, the f/1.4D or G, the f/1.2 manual focus and the Sigma 50mm f/1.4.

I decided to go for the Sigma after demoing the Nikon VS and the Sigma. I couldn't really see a difference in sharpness, the auto focus was totally accurate, the colors were a bit warmer and the built quality felt really good. Plus, if it matters to you, it is built in Japan.

Nikon D800E Sigma 50mm f/1.4

This shot was hand held at iso 800, f/2, 1/160 sec. I believe it is pretty good. I haven't play much with the lens but I feel like f/2 is the sharpest aperture. I will post more photos taken with this lens soon.

January 5, 2014

Moulton Barn Day Trip

Nikon D800E with 14-24 f/2.8 and SW150 LEE filter

This photo was taken right at sunrise and, as expected, a nice storm was rolling in creating a dramatic sky with a little surprise- a nice rainbow.

Nikon D800E with 14-24 f/2.8 and SW150 LEE filter

This one was taken in the afternoon.

Nikon D800E with 14-24 f/2.8 and SW150 LEE filter

And this is my lucky shot, we were leaving the area to find a hotel and place to eat. We were exhausted from driving and hiking. For some reason, I decided to drive back on the dirt road toward the Mormon Row area. We could see an other storm rolling in pretty quickly and spotted this sweet barn a few hundreds yards off the road and went for it.

January 4, 2014

Speedweek - Behind the scenes

Canon 5D MKII with a 70-200mm f/4

My best friend and I decided to go on a weekend road trip to the Speedweek at the Bonneville Flats via Wyoming last summer. I left Seattle in the early morning and picked Jean-Baptiste up on the way and drove to the Moulton Barn for a day than to Bonneville for a couple of days.

After Driving 1300 Miles, We Finally Arrived.

iPhone photo

We were so excited to be there, it was only my second time at Speedweek but only had a day and a half to get some cool Photos!

The place is overwhelming, so many cool cars sitting there waiting for you to take a picture.

There is one thing at the Bonneville Flats, every single car owner is super friendly and even offers you drinks or ask you if you want the car to be moved the way you want it. My best experience was with a group of guys, they had the best looking cars ever and after taking a few photos I wasn't really happy with what I was getting and after perhaps 45 minutes of trying and complaining to my buddy, I finally decided that I needed to ask the guys if they could move the cars, I went to talk to the owners.

"Hey guys, do you think you could move the cars, I mean there is no rush and if you guys are too busy watching don't worry..." I felt like a 16 years old kid asking his Dad to borrow the car for a date, the 5 car owners where sitting drinking beer watching the race and no one was answering, just one guy was like " yeah, not right now..." than from nowhere, a grumpy looking old man just stood up and trow his keys at me and said " Mine is the black one, I hope you can drive with a shift! " and all the others just followed him and handed me their keys. I was so surprised, those are some expensive "toys".

Then, after feeling like the cool kid in the neighborhood and taking some great shots, I went back to their caravan and sadly return the keys. What a good time.