Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, Interrogative 1

OVer....

so Yeah... I ride around.
 I see things...some times they are even real...
Joke.

So this was one of those times. One of those times that made me think something is wrong here.

I'm not sure if it's Murry or the Vet/ Groomer that is having the Fur Restyling Sale.....

and um WHY are they in the same Building?
is it just me or do you get a "little shop of horrors" type feeling ?

ekk.

Harvard blood clot Research

I got a 2 fer the other day.

I shot this really interesting gentleman about a year or so ago for an Annual Report he and his work were being featured in. Super nice guy and really passionate about his work.
I love that.
Nothing worse then showing up to photograph some one who doesn't want to be photographed and hate what it is they do....
trust me it happens.
but we always make the best of it! Hopefully I at least brighten there day some.

That was not the case with Robert Flaumenhaft.

He made time for us and was gracious and engaged the whole time.
We did a bunch of the standard shots.
guy at desk, guy in front of computer, guy in lab.
no pipetting ...I consider it a personal failure as a photographer to shoot some one in a lab pipetting....
it's what everyone wants to do because it's easy....Now I have taken some nice pipetting images....but still it's more of a drop back and punt situation for me.....

so.
  we did the standard shots and  are done, the client was happy, the subject was happy, Winner!
at this point I begin to pack up.
and.
some one in his lab asked him a question.
well this really cool teaching moment started to happen.
He is explaining to some Post Doc's and Fellows things that are going right over my head....by a big bank of windows 1/2 way across the lab.
I grabbed my 80-200mm and snuck up on them like  a wildlife shooter.....
and I made that image.

best of the day.....


it goes in the report. and I got this cool image because I wasn't limiting myself to the standard stuff and I kept my eyes open.

I remember assisting in the film days and getting chewed out for unloading a camera as we were packing up to leave. "always have one loaded just in case"

lesson learned. I've captured some cool stuff over the years because of it.
enough of the history lesson.
 Bonnie Prescott called me up and asked if I had any images of Robert Flaumenhaft associate professor of medicine HMS...turns out his research is paying off in the prevention of blood clots that can cause heart attacks and strokes.

So I said "Do I ever!"
 and the Harvard Gazette ran the story along with my photo.

congrats all around!

Nifty Fifty

that's right...
 a post about the ubiquitous 50mm f 1.8 lens.
the standard prime.
the NORMAL lens.....
the one no one uses....
even me.....
until a few months ago that is.

so some history , and how I came to love this lens all over again......

see this was often the first lens that came with the camera back in the day before auto everything set it on "P" for PROfessional cameras with 14-600mm zoom kit lenses...
when I got my first 35mm SLR it came with a 28-70mm 2.8- 5.6 zoom and a 50mm 1.7
go get em kid!

well  with all the figuring out how this stuff works I found myself shooting with the 50mm for the wide aperture...because I was often in low light situations....Punk Bands at the time were not known for playing in well lit venues....
and I happened to smash the zoom while skate boarding to the next spot to session.....
so 50mm it was!

then, off to school I went and all manner  of cameras were coveted, borrowed, rented, scrounged....
and I mostly lived in the Medium/ Large format arena....but always had a trusty Nikon 35mm.
still do.....2 F3 hp's 2 FM2ns 1 F100 and an F and some nikkormatts.....cause...
and a ton of glass.
24mm 28mm 35mm 50mm 85mm 105mm 200mm....and some zooms
SOLID WORK HORSES.
I shot at Mardi Gras with only the 50 and 35
the F100 paid for itself in no time and it's Auto Focus and meter were amazing for the time.
and all that Manual focus glass went on the shelf.
then.
DIGITAL happened.
and boy did it happen..... and the F100 went on the shelf.
and new lenses came and went and were coveted, borrowed, rented, scrounged....

Then a few years ago I settled into a do it all kit that traveled with me for almost every job.
D3 D700 20mm2.8  24-70mm2.8, 80-200mm2.8 and a 50mm1.8

I was on a job with  that very kit.... and one of the group I had just photographed inside and was about to photograph outside picked up a camera bag to help me.....................
you know those moments when time slows down?
Hunter S Thompson called it "that sickeningly sweet here we go sensation..."
she grabbed the top of the bag, which hadn't been secured (my fault, it was next on my list of things to do right after packing the light in my hand....) and DUMPED IT.
D3+24-70 onto a concrete floor. lens first BAM...smash.....no lens hood but a B+W filter!

 she looked at me and asked  "Was that expensive?" ummm yeah....
and it just got more expensive....

but I have a 5 person group shot to take in front of the office....the real reason I'm here not the little add on groups  I just did.....breath, don't panic....
so...ummmm 80-200mm or 20mm for the next shot.....?
neither would work....I'd be  on top of them making them look like hobbits or dodging traffic, but there...right there, in a lens wrap in the forgotten bottom of the bag...was ...

 the ubiquitous 50mm f 1.8AF lens.

job saved.
and off to the repair shop I went.
E.P.Levine
they are super people who have always treated me right, big shout out to Jon!


I had bought this one used ( from Jon at EPLevine) as a back up and it served it's purpose.
so I started shooting with it...now and again...but wasn't happy with the passable results.

always just kind of meh...

so back in the bottom of the bag it went.
then one day I was shooting some video with a D7000....
and man those AF motors are NOISY! as in LOUD...I was shooting dudes on Harley's and could hear the servos on the lens....I know I know camera mic blah blah blah...

and this here AF lens was not really meant to be used Manually.... it can be...but...so I went to the shelf.

and sitting there was  the ubiquitous 50mm f 1.8 MF  lens

so I slapped it on the front of the camera and shot some cool looking video...

so I swapped it out for the AF one in the bag. because ounces count when your a lazy guy with a ton of gear....and if I was shooting with the 50 it had all gone to hell already so what ever on the AF....

Then one day on another job, with it all shot, "in the can" as they say, I went into what I call the bonus round.
Once I have something that the client wants  I like to get a little crazy and try stuff, at this point we are free to experiment.
More often then not something cool will happen and we go with that instead of the original shot idea.
so I through the 50mm 1.8 MF on there.
and...wow....that glass is the SH1T!
It has a slice of focus wide open that is amazing.... and it handles like...well like it should!
butter smooth action.... the only time it misses is when I miss...1.8 is pretty shallow....
but it brings me back to the days of "The Rat" and racking focus in the dark.

GOOD TIMES...

so.. I think this is some of the best Glass Nikon ever made...the 1.4? sure...but I don't have one...that works.....
I got a 1.8 and for me.. that's just fine....
it's paid for itself 100 times over look what it can do...

DAVE TEST( fluorescent)

Jaquetta (natural light)

Flash

Florescent + natural+ fill flash

BIG WINDOW LIGHT+ reflectors

Natural + fill flash

Well this is one of the times I'm glad I'm not super web famous like David Hobby of Joe McNally...

that means these little gems will still be available for short $$$$$

and with repair bills and new fangled cameras I need every penny I can get.










 

Nurses II

So yes I have been photographing nurses...
and they Rock!
 but you knew that....
so, the Globe/ Boston .com did a feature on Nursing uniforms and how they have changed over time...
well they picked up a few of my Photos for the article.... Thanks to Jerry Berger at BIDMC for getting those over to them.

here are a few tears and a link to the Boston.com article.

Louise was AWESOME...... I had Photographed here for the earlier piece on nurses, and when this came across my desk we asked her permission to use her photo again. She was so into it....she's big on the history of nursing ( it is pretty cool say's the history geek that lives inside me) and still has her uniform from Nursing School, and it still fits! So she agreed to wear it one day and I stopped by for a few quick shots before she started seeing patients in the clinic that morning.
again.
 WOW....

cool story on how things change, gotta love the Hot Pink Clogs!

Nurses!

Been a while huh?

I've been really busy, which is good in this Biz of feast or famine.....
I much prefer the Feast...though the long hours and stress do get to you after a bit.
So  with shooting so much just about everything I have shot over the last 2 months with crazy deadlines etc...is / has been embargoed.....
which means I have a ton of cool photos I can't show.....yet.
but in the next few days 90% of all that...is being published...either in print or web or both!
So winner!!! I'll be able to share what I've been up to.

well this just hit because it's Nurses week.
thank a Nurse will ya ?

so Nurses have a special place in my heart.
 My mother in law (and most of her friends) are nurses.
that and I have a habit of hurting myself so I've gotten to know quite a few over the years.

one of those nice people called me up and asked me to do a photo essay on  a few very special nurses that were receiving awards for their hard work and accomplishments at a dinner celebrating nursing.
the photos would be shown as part of the evenings award ceremony and be used in several online applications as well. so we set up a bunch of different times...because nobody worked in the same building or shift or on the same day....and  I got to tag along with some truly special people as they cared for patients...
I'm just in awe of what these people do....the knowledge dedication and hard work....nights weekends...oh and then go home and be mom to 3 small children...
WOW.

they ranged in age back ground and specialty.
in the trenches floor nurses,  ICU nurse, OB/GYN(babies!), Hem/Onc(cancer), Transplant, Plastic surgery (reconstruction)...you name it....they do it...and look good while they are at it.



these people MOVE.
one Nurse was the Resource for 2 postpartum floors 20 beds each with 15 bed overflows...that's a potential 210 people...mom+dad+baby, then add new grandparents and every one else that's way more the 210....WOW. so yeah she MOVED!

so I got it in my head to travel super light on these.
I brought a minimal light kit...2 SB900s a ttl cord a ton of batteries a mini reflector, a  few clamps and gels and what not...
camera was the trusty D3, lens choice....24-70mm 2.8.
and.
what has become my new favorite lens.
50mm 1.8 Manual focus.....
that's right MF baby....
if you want to know why...well I got a separate post on that one coming out SOON!

the entirety of this long multi day/night multi location multi lighting situation assignment....
was shot with the 50mm 1.8 manual focus nikor.
why?
look what it can do!

This is only a small sample of all the images we made.....
these ladies are just flat out incredible and I want to thank each of them for letting me into there lives to make these.
thanks for that and all that you do!
B