Just another photo taken with a 50mm prime lens

The 50mm lens is what people usually consider a normal prime lens because it has a normal perspective similar to the human eye. Do not try to shoot too close to your subjects as the barrel distortion would be more obvious, unless that is the intention. I shot this picture with a very barebones setting, just window light, white bedsheet as reflector and my trusty old Nikon 50mm F1.4 AFD. Just add exposure compensation to blow out the highlights and you get a somewhat high key effect! Cheers!

Random Picture

Recently I had a stye on my eyelid and its preventing me from trying to take pictures. Oh well... In the meantime, just to share one of my random picture from some time ago. A backlit shot with the Nikon 50mm prime again. This was actually a candid! Cheers!

Recent Nikon 50mm F1.4 AFD shots...

I cannot imagine not having my bread and butter lens, the Nikon 50mm F1.4 AFD. It was my first lens I used when I started out in photography, and I am loving it, especially with my full frame revivial from 35mm film format to FX DSLR! Cheers!

"It's a Crime to Ignore!"
A candid shot just for the fun of it!


"Dangerous Curves Ahead"


"Under The Bridge"


"High Key Leopard Print"

Window Light Portraits

Having done quite a few high key window light portraits recently, I had the chance to try out during this rainy weather, a more subdued lighting for a more melancholic mood. This time I have only the side walls to bounce light and the dim indoor lightings as a small source of fill light. I did not bring my Nikon 50mm lens outdoors this time, but luckily the Nikon 85mm F1.8 I had was sufficient to do full body shots in the cramp conditions. Auto WB performed surprisingly alright here. Here is a sample shot, more to be added when I have the time. To be continued...

Sleepy Head

This shot was taken in D2XMode1 with Pre-set WB taken off the white sheets. Due to the cramped conditions I was using my favourite Nikon 50mm F1.4 AFD lens. Another of my favourite High Key shot.

Bokeh on a rainy day!

I did a casual photoshoot with this lovely lady I just met over the weekend. The weather was so downcast when we met up that I asked her if she wanted to continue with the shoot. She was fine with it and we took a few shots before it started to rain and we had to cease. Perhaps another day. Just to share a few pictures of her using my fastest ambient light lens, the 50mm F1.4 again, at wide open, no reflectors to balance out the shadow areas though. Thanks for reading anyway! Cheers!

Outdoor Bikini

Could she be Tarzan's Jane? Hehe!

Some Fun Shoots over the weekend...

Nikon 50mm F1.4 AF-D. What more is there to say? Haha!

Here is another fun shot of her just being wacky! Constipation causes people to do crazy things, I presume? Hahaha!

Pretty In Pink

This is another shot using side window lighting of the same lady in the same location, but with the excellent Nikon 50mm F1.4 AF-D instead. I manually set the White Balance, not wanting to rely on the D700 Auto WB. Isn't she looking Pretty In Pink? Cheers!

Nikon 35mm F2 backlit shot

A moderately wide angle lens like the Nikon 35mm F2 is seldom used for portraiture unless its to show a bit of the environment the subject is in, hence we would need to be careful of distractions in the foreground or background. Again its flare resistance proved invaluable in this backlit shot, using nothing but available window light and the natural reflector effect of the white sheets under the subject. Care has to be taken to avoid putting the subject too close to the edge to prevent barrel distortion from showing up on the subject, which can prove unattractive. I took a Manual White Balance reading from the white sheets for this shot, using what I can in that location. Cheers!

Another Natural Light Portrait with the Nikon 50mm F1.4 AF-D

What do I like about the D700 and the Nikon 50mm F1.4 AF-D combo? They make up a very useful natural low light combination that is great for on location portraits, maintaining some sense of the surroundings. It also provides closer interaction with the subject for better communication and feedback with the photographer. Many people think that the 50mm focal length is a boring lens, but for me, I feel it closest replicates the eye and hence is the most honest of the lens without distorting reality for dramatic effects. A very general purpose lens that can give stunning results under the right hands. Lens are tools to be used like the brushes of the artist on a canvas anyway.

Backlit Portraits with the Lovely Nikon 85mm F1.8 AF-D

Here are samples of two backlit portraits with the Nikon 85mm F1.8 AF-D and Nikon D700, with nothing but available light. No lens hood was used and this picture was taken at aperture F2.8 for a nice balance of Depth of Field and Bokeh. Surprisingly the lens did not seem to flare in this sample at such a big aperture setting. Full frame is the way to go for 85mm focal length in my opinion, giving good subject and photographer interaction, and lessening the distance for portraits, hence producing shallower DOF while maintaing a decent level of sharpness at F2.8 as these examples show.

Raychell... Up Close and Personal.

Introducing the bubbly and frisky Raychell, up close and personal in these headshot portraits with my trusty Nikon 50mm F1.4D prime! Under natural light conditions of course! Pardon my inconsistant post processing as I did them in a hurry, even though its basically only some minor contrast and curve adjustments, followed by resizing! Raychell has been great to shoot with because she is very comfortable in front of the camera as can be seen in these pictures. The camera using the 50mm lens was quite close to her but she remains very natural. Furthermore not many people I know can pull it off looking good doing closeup headshots portraits, but I think she managed great!

Candid Nikon 85mm F1.8 Wide Open Shots

I went to the IT fair yesterday, but I bought nothing there. My pockets are shallow these days and I have to tighten my belt! In the end, I left the place and took some candid outdoor snapshots of this young lady and her friend who went to the IT fair too. Here are a few of the pictures taken with the Nikon 85mm F1.8 wide open at such a close distance for maximum bokeh effect just for the fun of it! I am still impressed with the sharpness acheivable!

Nikon 85mm F1.8 wide open

I covered a friend of a friend's Registry Of Marriage this afternoon, where I took photos of the young couple legally unite to become Husband and Wife. I am not one who have much experience in event photography, but I tried my best anyway and I feel happy for them. Following that, however, I met up with another TFCD model nearby, where I can use my 85mm F1.8 again! I tried shooting at F1.8 and here are some of the images made with this lens wide open. Here are the effects for full length body, half body and head and shoulders portraits. Once the focus is locked on correctly, even at full aperture, the sharpness leaves little more to be desired.

The Return Of The Nikon 50mm F1.4 AFD

Let me continue from yesterday's post, the rest of the picture in that series. I had more space to manoeurve outdoors, so these are all shot with the Nikon 50mm F1.4 AFD, mostly at F2.2 aperture. I was lucky the weather was fine, and I had the warm evening sunlight glow to play with my subject. Ideally I would have a reflector and such equipment, but doing this shoot solo, it was not very feasible. I have always liked big aperture lens, and the 50mm F1.4 being the only affordable F1.4 lens for me, is one of my favourites. Most lens start to perform well 2 stops from their largest aperture, and that lens being F2 at 2 stop from its F1.4 aperture, gives me a lot of shallow Depth Of Field to play with, without sacrificing sharpness. Here are some of the picture samples. What can I say? Bokeh Okay! Why worry if it is made in China, like many people I know do. Go out and take pictures, because the Nikon 50mm F1.4 AFD ROCKS!