Summer summer summer, hot weather equals indoor sessions!

It’s hot in Los Angeles which means it’s getting to that time of the year where I LOVE to shoot indoors! I have expanded my backdrops, lighting, and gear to make the next couple of months awesome. Check out some recent indoor shoots below with texture to add to the vibes of each personality:

New photos in the portfolio!

Finally have a bit of time to update the portfolio with some clients in the past couple of months!

Update on the movie 25mm Fotasy Lens!

Well, that was an experiment! I tried and am returning the Fotasy Lens because it had a black spot on the lens and silver foil pieces. It’s okay though because I have the Panasonic Lumix 25mm 1.7 on the way which is what I should have got in the first place 🙂 My main function for the 25mm is to take on events and festivals since it allows for more coverage and I can be closer to the subject. I think it will also function nicely for an indoor lens that is fast, night time walk around street photos, and baby and young children portraits.

Anyhow I’ll update some pics when the Panny 25mm comes in!

New Camera adapted lens update!

Quick update on using my new mirrorless Panasonic g85 with an adapted lens. I was a Nikon girl before all of this so I wanted to see how a Nikon f mount would work on my microfourthirds. Research told me that there would be some restrictions such as no autofocus which I was willing to do manual since the Panasonic has focus peaking.

I ordered a Fotodiax f mount to microfourthirds adapter from Amazon that had decent reviews. I got it a couple of days ago and I ended up returning it yesterday. My main issue was I mounted a zoom lens and not a prime. I put my Tamron AF 28-75mm f2.8 on my Panasonic and the first thing the camera asks is, “What is the focal length?” I tried various numbers depending on what I set the lens to but nothing seemed to work. Now I was handheld, as there is no image stabilization happening, I couldn’t find focus manually even with focus peaking on. Maybe it would have been different on a tripod?

Well experiment over for the moment. I ordered a really cool Fotasy 25mm f1.4 Movie Lens that will be coming next week that has really dreamy bokeh. It will also have an adapter and will be manual focus but I have hopes that using a fixed focal lens will work better.

FYI I have the AWESOME Panasonic 42.5 f1.7 that I LOVE to use for headshots and portraits. That’s been my main lens these past two weeks. The kit lens is something I haven’t really used. I suspect that I will use it for travel since it’s weatherproof.

Until next time! Photo below taken with that awesome 42.5mm:

New Camera New Lens New New New!

I am super excited to announce that I’ve FINALLY joined the mirrorless camera club, the microfourthirds club, and the Panasonic club. This does not mean I will completely give up on my NIKON’s but after shooting with my new m43rd mirrorless, I can say that I am in LOVE! It was btwn the g85 mirrorless or a full frame NIKON and I ultimately choose to go with the more portable indy filmmaker camera.

Some PRO’s:

• LIGHT light light like it feels like half the weight of my Nikon dSLR which makes it portable and friendly for those long event shoots
• Superfast focus
• 4k video shooting ability with a feature that can pause your video and save it as a still photo
• Weather sealed
• IS (Internal Stabilization) and that becomes DUAL IS with the extra Panasonic 42.5 F1.7 lens I picked up

Some things I’m undecided on or semi-CONS:

• LOW light photos
• I’m getting an adapter for my TAMRON lens this week so we’ll see how it works with a lens that’s going to be manual
• At Wondercon I realized that the prime 42.5 Panny that I had attached was not ideal. It’s a gorgeous portrait lens but not so much for crowded and tight spaces where I wanted to be nearer the action.
• Battery life SUCKS on the g85. I have 3 total and 1 lasts about 2 hrs of shooting. I can’t imagine how I’d get along on a remote shoot or even a video shoot.

Things I have to get used to:

• Touchscreen what?!
• Super in-depth touchscreen menus
• Eye sensor that turns off live view screen when my hand waves in front of it. ANNOYING.

Haven’t experimented with the video functions yet so will do an update when I do. Some samples below of the pics with the g85 with the 42.5mm f1.7 Panasonic lens:

Commercial headshots indoor!

Yes, I’m picking up the indoor photography again! In the comfort of air conditioned space (important in Los Angeles). It’s a mixture of soft boxes, led’s, natural light, and bounce lights. Check it: