Last night...and today

So yesterday definetly took a number out on me but was a lot of fun. I had two photography gigs, one sort of last minute and the other I was booked for a while in advance. The first was promotional pictures for a DJ which were taken at my friends studio. The DJ brought in his gear and a few different outfits so it was cool to do those photos, a good experience. After that I had to head back home and gear up (literally) for the next event which was a birthday party at The Great Blacks in Wax Museum in Baltimore City. I ran a two camera system for this event, my 5D Mark III with my 24-105 f4 L lens, and the other my parents T3I camera with an 85 usm lens. It was a familiar area of the city and parking was a breeze so the trip wasn't too bad and when I arrived around 8:30pm I had plenty of time to get prepared. It was a cool party with good music, people, and food so what more can you ask for?

I will say the one thing that bugged me had nothing to do with the people, it had a lot to do with my camera. Once the party started the lighting was dim, I mean as dim as it gets, it felt like a degree away from pitch black. I accounted for this by having a flash on both my cameras, however with the 24-105 the biggest issue was focusing...Since it was so dark the lens had nothing to grab focus to and the flash I was using is an older one that probably has been eclipsed several times over by newer flashes. I think in the future I will look for something that can provide continuous light for me to focus from and then flash, or hopefully the recent purchase of a 50mm usm lens will do the trick because that 85mm was just way too tight in on people to get really great photos from. I love the 85 lens but I saw last night that it just does not work in a tight room. I still got some great photos though, just rambling about lenses.

Random Movie Fact: In the 1997 film The Game, David Fincher claimed in an interview in UK film magazine Empire, that there is a can of haggis in every scene of the movie. This was done as a joke, because "Haggis" is the nickname of cinematographer Harris Savides.

Thanks for the support,
Daniel Hess

Dundalk Zombie Walk Photos (Part 1 of 2)

So here are the photos I took during this past years Dundalk Zombie Walk. I am breaking it up into two different days of photos. The first day is all the photos I took using a wide angle lens I borrowed from my friend Zach. It was my first time using this wide of a lens and I must say, I love the results. See for yourself and let me know what you think.

Random Movie Fact: In the 1975 film Monty Python and the Holy Grail, at the beginning of the "Bring out your dead" scene, two nuns with gigantic mallets can be seen. The original script called for them to be pounding on a man tied to a cart, but the scene was cut and that glimpse is all that remains.

Thanks for the support,
Daniel Hess

Canon 5D Mark III

So today it has been announced...the new Canon 5D Mark III! I looks amazing and it has a lot of great new features on it that should make video recording even better! This is exactly what I have been waiting for and the whole reason behind me selling my Sony HXR NX5U. I am going to talk more with a film friend of mine tonight and if he says it is worth all the money I am going to pre order it tonight...assuming it is not all sold out by then. This is going to be an awesome camera to have not only for my stills but also for shooting sweet video. The ultimate goal is to be able to shoot Voicebox using this camera if I can have it by then and if that all works out I will be one happy camper! I just hope everything goes well.

Find out more about the Canon 5D Mark III here!

Thanks for the support,
Daniel Hess