It's been quite a while since my last blog post. Hopefully I'll have more time, beginning in the very near future, to keep you up to date with what's been going on in my world.
Last week, I gave the district manager at my full-time job two weeks' notice that I would be leaving the company. A lot of things led to this, but the most influential aspect was that I did not have enough time as I'd have liked to have to spend on photography while working there. After March 15th, I will have all the time in the world to commit to my new full-time career, photography.
Along with my usual wedding and music gigs, I plan on expanding a little. In the spring, I will be spending a lot of time at baseball/lacrosse/whatever fields photographing little leaguers all the way up to high schoolers. I'll be selling these photos to coaches, parents, and players through Zenfolio, on which I am in the midst of setting up an account.
To improve on my sports photography (which now has its own page on my website) I will be purchasing a 2x teleconverter. A teleconverter attaches to your camera and allows your lens to be mounted on top of it, providing an extra element of glass and magnification. This particular one has a 2x zoom factor, so it multiplies the lens's zoom range by 2. My 70-200mm f/2.8 lens will now act as a 140-400mm lens with the teleconverter attached for only $200. Seems too good to be true right? It is. There's a downfall with teleconverters. For each increment of zoom expansion it provides, it takes away that many stops of light from the aperture. So instead of having a 140-400mm f/2.8 (which would be a ridiculously impressive lens), I'll be using essentially a 140-400mm f/5.6 lens.
Now, I've done my research on zoom lenses, and I've had my fair share of experience with them in the sports photography field. f/5.6 in daylight is more than enough of an opening to be able to shoot at 1/1000 s or faster at 400-800 ISO. However, not every day will be bright and sunny. That's where my camera's low light sensitivity comes into play. The Canon 6D has the best low light performance I've seen on any camera first-hand. I've shot at 6400 and gotten crystal clear results. Stretching from 800 to 1600 ISO will not be an issue, and most likely even 3200 won't show much grain. This makes the decision in getting a 2x teleconverter and losing 2 stops of light almost a no-brainer.
I am also looking into getting into real estate photography. Agents need professional, quality images of the properties they are selling, and I can provide them with just that. I've learned a ton about lighting through shooting weddings in all different style venues (not to mention wedding prep in the brides' and grooms' homes), and I have the equipment that will allow me to make these homes as appealing as the agent wants them to seem.
I will always be looking for new opportunities, so if anybody needs help with any photography-related projects, please let me know!
I promise next time I'll post sooner than 7 months from now.