Anne and I had the pleasure of photographing Michelle and Lucci’s wedding this month. We spent some time with them recently at their engagement session and was really looking forward to their wedding.

Michelle and Lucci reside in Kitchener and were married at Grandview Baptist Church in a lovely service.  We drove all over the city for images with the bridal party and ended up at their reception site, the Waterloo Inn for some fun and ultimately, a big party.

Michelle and Lucci:  we wish you lots of happiness, laughter and joy.  Thank you again for sharing your wedding day with us.

If you have been given access to their online gallery, please visit our main site at www.roelphoto.com and click on “client galleries”.

Anne and I had the pleasure of spending some time with Melaina and Marlon a few months ago during their engagement session… and sure enough, time flew by and we saw them again… this time, at their wedding!

Melaina is currently on assignment (with work) in Geneva, Switzerland and Marlon hails from Toronto - their wedding and reception took place at the beautiful Markham Historic Museum.   We also had the pleasure of working with our friends at Platinum Events who were the planners for the wedding.

Melaina and Marlon: Anne and I wish you much happiness and joy in your life together. Enjoy your time in Switzerland and come home soon… I am sure your friends and families miss you! Many blessings to you both.

If you have been given access to their online gallery, please visit our main site at www.roelphoto.com and click on “client galleries”.

A few days ago, Magda and Luke from London, Ontario decided to visit our fair city of Stratford to spend a couple of hours with Anne and myself for their engagement session. We had a leisurely time together strolling in the park - and when I asked Luke how he proposed to his lovely bride to be, he enlightened us with a reenactment of it (they are the shots in the video where is kneeling, amongst other things!).

Magda and Luke: we look forward to your wedding this fall and thank you once again for a great time together.

If you have been given access to their online gallery, please visit our main site at www.roelphoto.com and click on “client galleries”.

Anne and I stayed close to home in Stratford for the wedding of our two dear friends, Kyla and Rob. We had a great time with them several weeks ago at their engagement session - and sure enough, their big day was finally here!

They were married at Zion Lutheran Church in Stratford, Ontario in a lovely service. We had lots of time for photographs - before and after the ceremony. Stratford has numerous beautiful sites and parks - and we finally ended up at Gallery Stratford where the bridal party decided to shake things up a little and have a little (OK, a lot) of fun.

Kyla and Rob: you are two of the kindest and most beautiful people we have ever had the pleasure of knowing and photographing. We are proud to call you our friends. Your families and friends are equally lovely and it is so wonderful to see that you have so many amazing people in your lives. We wish you much joy and happiness in life. Love each other, talk to each other, “be” with each other. I have no doubt there will be a lot of laughter in your lives.

Much love to you both.  Namaste.

If you have been given access to their online gallery, please visit our main site at www.roelphoto.com and click on “client galleries”.

Our studio spends a lot of time photographing engagement sessions for our clients.  We often get asked what is the “best” location to go to for these sessions - and my response is to ask the happy couple if there is a place that is very special to them - for whatever reason.

I met Samantha and Chris several months ago - they are childhood sweethearts who met in grade 5 (is that cool or what?).  Samantha suggested that we go to the public school where they first met in Scarborough - and of course I thought that was a fantastic idea.

We spent an afternoon at their former school … wandering around the playground, going to all the “cool” spots they loved as children - and finally - visiting the spot where they had their very first kiss.  It was awesome to see them both relive their childhoods (a bit).

Samantha and Chris - I look forward to seeing you both at your wedding in a couple of months.  You are a fabulous couple and I have no doubt your wedding day will be equally wonderful.

Preamble

Most professional photographers are typically equipment junkies… and yes, I believe I fall into that category.  I usually don’t post much about equipment unless I find something truly special out there.

Thanks to my friends at Nikon Canada - I’ve had my hands on a brand spanking new Nikon D700 DSLR for a few days now which was officially released worldwide on July 25, 2008.  I could ramble on and on about the specifications but you would be better off to read sites like DPReview for that.

Some History

A bit of history… Nikon last summer announced two new (fantastic) cameras - the (lower cost) DX crop Nikon D300 and the (quite expensive) full frame (FX) Nikon D3.  The D3 was long expected (and overdue as Canon had full frame cameras out for years) but the D300 was a big surprise as it exceeded the previous flagship D2xs in performance and image quality but at a third of its initial price. It was also built to professional standards.  Nikon had raised the bar with both the D300 and the D3.

Where’s The D3 Review?

I wrote a mini review on the D300 when they first arrived in Canada.  It is a great little camera and I thought I would not buy a D3 as the D300 (and my Fuji S5) were allowing me to create great images.

After “borrowing” a friend’s D3 this year, I got hooked on it.  It sucks in light, no matter how little there is.  And it is like driving a Ferrari after driving  a Camry (oddly enough, I believe that Ferrari did design the D2 and D3 series bodies for Nikon).  You could literally shoot in a dark cave at 11 frames per second and get fabulous, in focus shots once you know how to operate it.  The D3, overall, exceeds all previous standards set for cameras.

So, why did I not write a D3 review?  There was nothing I could add that wasn’t said already about the camera.  IMHO, until another “high end” camera comes out, I personally believe it is the best camera on the planet.  You can read what Phil Askey and Thom Hogan (two well respected camera reviewers) have to say about the D3.

For those of you who have handled a D3, it is quite a beast.  It is a heavy camera and quite expensive (about $5,100.00 as I write this).  Canon has the (3 year old) 5D which also uses a full frame sensor - it has excellent image quality and is in a low cost, lightweight body.  I always thought that if Nikon put the D3’s FX sensor into the D300 body, they would have an instant hit.

Nikon Must Have Read My Mind

Well guess what?  At the beginning of July 2008, Nikon announced the D700 which is basically a D300 style body with the D3 FX sensor.  I had to pinch myself.

So, now that I have my grubby hands on the D700, what do I think of it?  I could go on for hours (heaven forbid) about it, however, I will give you my initial impressions.

Impressions

What I like:

• Most of the controls are similar to the D300, so I was instantly familiar with it.
• The D700 might have a similar body to the D300 but has most of its DNA borrowed from the D3… when I shoot with it, I have to remind myself it is not a D300 but rather, a smaller D3.
• It (to me) has a better build quality than the D300, but that is purely subjective on my part.  It just seems “beefier” (is that a word?) to me.  BTW, the D300 build quality is excellent.
• Ergonomics are beautiful - I have small hands and it fits them like a glove.
• You can have D3 image quality for $1,800.00 less.
  
• Auto Focus (AF) is identical to the D3. This surprised me as the D300 (which also uses the same CAM3500 AF module as the D3 and D700) has a bit of a “lag” compared to the D3 in acquiring the subject (once it acquires the subject though, it is extremely accurate).  Nikon mentioned that the D3 and D700 share the same (fast) processor, hence why AF is identical.  The D300 uses a slower processor.
• When shooting 14 bit NEFs, the camera does not slow down.
• Same beautiful 3 inch (900,000 pixel) rear LCD as the D3/D300.
• Battery life is quite good… about 800 shots (NEF/RAW) per fully charged EN-EL3e battery - and that is with a lot of chimping and menu use.
• The “dust off” feature might be useful as the FX sensor seems to be a big dust magnet.
• It uses the MB-D10 grip… so if you have one for your D300, you can use the same grip for both cameras.

In summary, the D700 really is a mini D3 in many ways - with a price tag (in Canada) of $1,800.00 less than its bigger brother.

What I am not crazy about:

• Only one Compact Flash card slot (I am paranoid about backups).
• The viewfinder only has 95% coverage compared to 100% on the D3.
• The new door for the Compact Flash card seems “cheap” (and easily breakable) for a $3,300.00 camera.
• Menus and controls that are getting more complex.  Actually, this is becoming an issue for all of Nikon’s latest pro cameras.  There are so many features in these cameras, organizing them is becoming a tricky matter.  There are more than 20 buttons on these cameras - each of them customizable plus dozens of menus to understand.  I believe that Nikon in future generations of cameras will need to think out how to better organize menu items, etc.
• The proprietary NEF format.  Not a criticism of the D700, but of Nikon’s NEF format itself.  I know Nikon makes money selling its own conversion software, Capture NX2.  But hello… there are many other RAW converters out there and I would love to see Nikon publish the specs for their NEF format so we can ALL get the best image quality out of our Nikon cameras.  IMHO, the user interface/performance on NX and NX2 is awful compared to Lightroom, Aperture, etc.

The Verdict?

Nikon has succeeded in making “mini-D3″ and a viable competitor to Canon’s future 5D successor (unless Canon does something really radical - who knows, they might).  It ain’t cheap though… at $3,300.00 (in Canada), it is about a $1,500.00 premium over the very capable D300.  Then again, that is the price you will have to pay if you want to get into Nikon’s FX format.

Do I regret buying my D3?  In a word, “NO”.  I love my D3.  As capable as the D700 is, it isn’t a D3 and I am glad I spent the extra money to have it in my bag for its extra features.

What’s In My Bag Now?

So, as a wedding photographer, I now have the best of the best - a D3 and a D700 in my bag - arguably, two of the world’s best cameras at my disposal.  I know equipment does not make the photographer - having said that, my clients will get images created by the best cameras (and lenses) money can buy.  The only thing limiting me now is my imagination and creativity.

And what becomes of the D300 in my bag?  Needless to say, I will be finding it a good home.  It is a fantastic camera (especially for the price) and for this photographer, the Nikon FX format best suits my needs.  If I were doing more wildlife work (where the Field Of View Crop and pixel density are extremely useful), I would probably have two D300’s!

Should You Get A D700?

If you are considering the D700 (or D3), ask yourself exactly what it will give you over current Nikon (or Canon) DX offerings and is it worth the price premium for you?  Only you can answer that.

Well Done, Nikon!

You’ve hit another home run (IMHO) with the D700.  They are expensive and you will probably sell a lot of them.  Thank you for the opportunity to have some “quiet time” with this great camera.

Happy shooting!

Twenty eight years later, that comment has remained with me - and obviously I still remember it to this day.

This summer, we have seen our fair share of rain in Southern Ontario - and of course, it has rained a lot on weekends when weddings are normally held.  In addition to rain being a sign of good luck for the newlyweds, it also presents some great opportunities for us wedding photographers.  Do you like dramatic skies and lighting in photographs?  Do you like “different” and “unusual” shots and poses?  Well, rain and thunderstorms can often provide many great photo opportunities and those dramatic lighting conditions - if you know where to look for them.

So, if it rains on your wedding day, please do not worry… simply embrace a “different” type of “good weather”.  Let your photographer find those great photo opportunities (and great light) in all types of good weather to help you remember your wedding day for a lifetime!

One of the honours Anne and I have in our business is that over time, not only are we wedding photographers, we sometimes become family photographers :o)

We headed out to Fonthill (in the beautiful Niagara region of Ontario) for Alexandra and Jonathan’s wedding. Alexandra was the maid of honour (and the sister) of Marianne who we photographed a couple years ago. We were *really* happy to hear she and Jonathan got engaged… and chose us to photograph her wedding!

We spent some time before the ceremony at the Lookout Point Country Club (if you are a golfer, definitely check this place out) having a little quiet time with the bride and groom.  The happy couple had their ceremony at the chapel in the *scenic* Balls Falls Conservation Area.

One of the great things I loved about their wedding was the “coming together” of all of the different cultures, customs and languages present - Mexican, Estonian, Scottish, English… and good old Canadian (eh).  Add a little music and you have one really great party!

Alexandra and Jonathan:  Anne and I wish you lots and lots of happiness in your lives together.  Thank you for the honour of photographing your wedding.  Congratulations again!

If you have been given you access to their online gallery, please visit our main site at www.roelphoto.com and click on “client galleries”.