I've been away from the blog for a week, as I've been working on projects almost every day and getting ready to travel. It's been a physical workout trying to keep up the pace with everything, but the results are well worth it.

Last Monday & Tuesday, I spent shooting a marketing campaign for a private school. It was time for them to their catalogue, and my photos help capture the spirit of the school. It was an amazing time to work with them and create photos that I'm very much proud of and tells the story of the students and the campus. I think that's the most important part of this type of shoot, telling a story people can connect with and follow. i relyed a lot on my speedlight to create bright, attractive images that can inspire people to be a part of the school's community.

In between those two shoots, I got the opportunity to shoot the Bebe Rexha and Bassy Tour at the Showbox at SoDo. it was One of the best experiences as a photographer, and one of the most challenging. I had spent most of the days before hand trying to create a lighting situation similar to a concert, and spent a lot of time researching concert photography from different photographers that I like. When I arrived, I got my press pass, and headed to the pit. It was exhilarating to be front row to not just a show I enjoyed, but to capture images that told of the experience.

It was also one of the most challenging experiences I've ever had as a photographer to date. Whenever I'm asked to do events, there is a sense of urgency as you move around trying to capture the moment as it happen. Concert photography, from my brief foray into it, is that x20 on the hardest difficulty setting. 

The basic rules of concert photography include no flash and using a 'fast' lens, one that has a low aperture, such as f/2.8 or even better, f/1.8. I set my camera, the Nikon D7100, to AF-C mode, its Continuous Focusing mode where it tracks the subject as they move on stage. I also had my camera set to Continuous High mode, to capture all the moments within a moment - hair flips, jumps, hops, and the like - and with my ISO starting at 2000 and a shutter speed between 1/250 sec and 1/640 (when lighting permitted), I shot as the best photos I could with the gear I had. At the end of the day, this is what matters most, and what helped me get the shot. It was a great night, I got to shoot one of my favorite artists, and got to push my gear and myself to their absolute limit.

I spent Wednesday flying back to Maryland for a few days, to shoot the wedding of one of my closest friend's. It's the third wedding I've shot this year, and with the experience I had under my belt, I was able to take the behind the scenes shots as the bride and groom got ready. With weddings, I like to capture the candid more than the staged. As wonderful as those key highlight photos are, the ones that make the couple gasp and take their breaths away, those shots that made them hire you in the first place, capturing those intimate candids helps fill in the details. The intimate little quirks that make up the relationship between the bride, groom and guests that cannot be staged are some of my favorite ones. 

The fact that my camera has allowed me to do all these things in the span of a week is amazing, but it definitely has me itching for something more powerful to meet these types of demands. What do you think should be my next camera? Sound off in the comments below, and I look forward to seeing you in the next post!