Instagram Favorites

Here's a few that I've recently posted on Instagram.

Simplicity

Yesterday I had the privilege of second shooting a wedding. This was the view as we were leaving the reception. Naturally, I had to snap a picture!

Simply beautiful.

Rain

Took this a while ago, a rainy evening driving in Milwaukee. I only had my phone with me, but was able to capture this fantastic photo. I love sunsets and rain!

Product Review: Nokia Lumia Icon (Verizon Wireless)

I had the pleasure, and honor, of product testing the Nokia Lumia Icon for the past month or so. It was a very fun experience, as I've never product tested, well... anything before! It was quite a learning curve as I've never used a Windows-based phone, but I liked the interface overall, and liked the camera and editing aspects of it. 

Photo Quality: 8/10
 - Amazing. What else can I say about the fact that the camera gives you TWO options for taking/savings photos, and each of them are GREAT! I was still surprised at the quality difference the Pro High Res presented, but was still more interested in how the PHR setting was NOT always the best photo option. I wish I knew why! Even still, these are photos I would be happy to send to clients. 

Mechanics: 6/10
 - Though the camera has a great, high megapixel quantity, the fact of the matter is the mechanics of the camera didn't work like I wanted or programmed them to. When used in short distances, the flash STILL went off despite the fact that I turned it off. The shutter was delayed (but quick when it did finally go off). The lag in the shutter can make a huge difference between getting the shot, and not. 

Editing: 7/10
 - Nokia has some fun apps that allow you to edit the photos you take. But keep in mind, they are very SIMPLE. Most of them (if not all of them), are basic filters to allow you to change the colors on the photos, but they are still fun if there's certain looks you're going for. 

Overall: 7/10  -  Great CONSUMER level camera!
 - While I liked the quality of the photos, and the ability to choose camera settings, the shutter lag and flash usage even though I had turned the flash off, was something that bothered me a bit too much. As a consumer, looking for a great camera on a phone, I would highly recommend this. But as a professional photographer, I'm going to have to pass.

Thanks again to Chelsey, Core Creative, and Verizon Wireless for allowing me to test this fantastic device!

Product Test: Nokia Lumia Icon (Verizon Wireless) - Startup Milwaukee

Back in January 2013, I became the photographer for Startup MKE. I had friends that were involved in the organization and by their recommendation I reached out to the co-founders. After a short round of email communication, I joined the team as the Official Photographer for their Meetups. I was thrilled and honored. It had been a couple of years since I had really taken photos, and I felt that I needed to get back in the game. These photos are from one of their most recent Meetups.

You can see how the flash went off, even though I had manually turned it off. It only happened in close settings, but it was bothersome nonetheless. 

No idea why this happened, it only happened once or twice while I was taking photos, but they turned out dark like this. 

 

 

 

 

  

Below are a few shots that I really wanted to highlight. Since I had primarily set the camera settings to automatic, I wanted to experiment a bit. Since I had a small window of time, I wanted to focus on the ISO. Leaving all other settings at automatic (f-stop, shutter), and standing in the same spot for each photo, this is the result. Obviously, the higher the ISO, the grainier the photos that are produced.

ISO 4000

ISO 800

ISO 400

ISO 200

ISO 100

ISO 250