Kim St. Dennis Photography

While most people are selling off home items to pay bills, Ive decided thats useless and am going to sell off home items to buy new nikon glass. I to buy anything decent I might have to sell my right arm as well.

First off I need to get a 105macro 2.8D. They run about 400 used. Its to repay the 105 2.0DC lens I have. Which I might add, I love. Oh is it creamy!

Ok, next up is a mid range zoom. Now that ive been spoiled by the 80-200 2.8D, my 60 macro, and the 105 2.0DC, I need a good mid range that is just as sharp as those lenses. Im looking at the 28-70 2.8D. Nevermind that its nicknamed "the beast" and cost 1k used. its one of the sharpest midranges Nikon makes only to be topped by its replacement the 24-70 2.8G. That one is 1500$ easy.

And this doesnt even cover the D700 and the new monitor. Dang I need a money tree.

So, time to start rummaging through the closet and see what I can ebay to pay for all this wonderfull ness....

Sunday Steve and I did  a shoot with Stephanie, an aspiring model. After a little warm up, she communicated amazingly with the camera.
 
We were scheduled for a 9.30 shoot, but didnt get our act together till 11am. Additionally, this was our first time shooting at this specific location... Downtown, more specifically the warehouse / artist's district. A nice place till the crack dealers (and smokers) show up around 11.00am. Needless to say we left at least one spot due to crack heads and the dope man.

The nice part (other than Stephanie's modeling) was that our buddy Gerald showed up to hang out. He rarely ventures west of Vermont Blvd (fear of yuppies I think), so it was cool to get out to his neck of the woods.

In the end the loation turned out to be a hit for me. Stephanie and I walked around a bit and found some nice nooks and crannies to hide and shoot in.


Thanks Stephanie, Steve and Gerald for a nice shoot.

I shoot with a Nikon D300. I purchased it soon after it was released not only for its laundry list of features, but also because my father owned one and wanted me to learn it and show him the tricks I could find. Within months of my D300 purchase the D700, a full frame version of the 300 was released. I was slightly bothered by this...

The D700 of course was 1K more than the D300, but could be found for less than that. Needless to say, Im sure Nikon chased away more than a few users with this swift move. With that said, I recently read that the D700 has a better sensor in it than a leaf aptus 75s, Hasselblad H3DII 50, and the Canon 1Ds mkIII (1Ds has slightly better color depth, but way less low light ability). Mind you it has 1/2 the MP, but honestly more MP is only good for 2 things, cropping and ahem, compensation.

So, 2 years on of ownership and my disgruntlement with Nikon might have to be put aside simple to get that amazing sensor in my gear line up. It Still sits about 800 more than my D300, but its full frame (so what?) and has better color depth than my D300. Canon still takes the cake with color depth. If I could just figure out how to put canons sensor in my nikon body...

site for DxO sensor tests:
http://www.dxomark.com/index.php/eng/DxOMark-Sensor/Camera-rankings

So, I go biweekly to a bar in Hollywood called Birds Cafe just east of Gower on Franklin. An art photographer friend and I sit and chat about the goings on in life. Inevitably, we always meet someone of interest, be it a make up artist, stylist, potential model, adult performer, etc. (great crowd there!) Its a good time and is filled with immersive conversation and lots of Hollywood's finest eye candy.

However, when we meet these people there, I am at a loss as I dont have printed business cards for my photography work. So, that being a small part of the driving force, I ran out and had some moo cards printed up. Only a test pack of 50, as another friend pointed out, they are quite pricey. A set of 500 cards can be had for 50.00 or less depending on your needs. Plus, I know a printer (I know a guy, who knows a guy, who...). In the mean time though these moo.com cards will work wonderfully. I get them in a week or so. Just in time for my next trip to Birds.

Over in southern Santa Monica at the world cafe (across the street for the coffee bean there on main) they are having a Blurb.com meet up. Register and get more info here.

About a year and a half ago when I start to put my lighting kit together, I came across a hidden gem. photocamel.com. Oddly enough, I rarely see it in google searches and frankly dont recall how I came across the site. With that said, its a massive wealth of information that has assisted me on more than one occasion.

 At photocamel youll find some knowledgeable and helpful folks like Benji www.sonshinestudios.com, who has laid out the basics for posing the family of four as well as the basic posing techniques. Another great resource from photocamel is Frank Doorhof, www.frankdoorhof.com. His work is an inspiration for me. His blog (although really more of a forum than a blog) is another worthwhile read. Frank's tips and thoughts are are a good tool to have in any photographer's arsenal. So hit the links above and have a good look through all the info photocamel and its users have to offer.

Wow that was filled with links!

Well, I have another blog I work on. Although lately Ive been way to busy to post to it. Lets hope I can get to this one more.

 I was able to finally decide on a domain name after registering 10 or so. It eventaually came down to photographysd.com . My last name being St. Dennis makes for trouble with both memories and association. For instance, at the grocery store, I am almost never refered to as Mr. St. Dennis when they look to tell me about the wonderful savings the store has given me. Its always Mr. Denis or Mr. Kim. Its a pain. Additionally, people who are familiar with the name refer to it as St. Denis which is the origional French spelling.

 Just a side note, Im not French. As the story goes, I inherited the name from a man who adopted my father years ago, Jim St. Dennis. It was his ancestor who to escape a debt, added an extra "n" in the 18th century or so. As a kid I was always told it was english. 

So, photographysd.com it is. now that the domain has been chosen I can move on with things. Thank god. Incidentally, as far as Im told, most browsers default to ".com" when a url is entered into the address bar. Thus making the best domains those that end with ".com".