lefred.com | Blog | Photo | Frederic Pfisterer

New England Road Trip

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I’m back after an amazing trip in the North Eastern part of the States, where I discovered New England. I used my wide-angle lens to shoot the stunning landscapes in and around Fryeburg (ME), Provincetown (MA) and Kennebunkport (ME).

A few improvements on the blog side of things: The Flickr RSS feed is now horizontal on the top of the page. The search engine has moved to the far-right column.

Tags: Blog, Gallery, Photo

Nikon Nikkor 20mm f/2.8D AF

Finally! I’d been tracking down a good deal on the Nikon Nikkor 20mm f/2.8D AF for over a month by now. My treasure hunt ended on eBay, where I bought it at half the store price. I’m saying “finally!” because I’ve been so frustrated by the 85mm. I can’t take a single landscape shot with it – especially since it’s the equivalent of a 127mm on my D90! So I’ve really been looking forward to the 20mm. It’s the widest angle lens available among the Nikon primes, aside from fisheyes. I had the opportunity to test it over Labor Day weekend and it was love at first click. Stephen Antonelli lent me his and I took a few shots. I really love this one.

If I go back to the wishlist on my previous post on the 85mm, I’m only missing the 50 and the 105 now. I should be getting the 50 soon. I can wait on the 105 though.

I’m pretty happy with the photo I took for this post and when I compare it to the one of the 85mm, I realize there’s been some progress. Notice the very basic photo studio that was improvised for the occasion. I even used a tissue to soften the light from my SB-600.

Tags: Gear, Lens, Nikkor, Nikon, Photo

Thierry the Hair Stylist

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On this last visit to Maryland we decided to stop and see our friend Thierry who is a hairstylist in the charming little town of Frederick. While he cut Monique’s hair, I thought I’d make the most of it and take a few shots with my still brand new 85mm. I then converted the photos into black and white using Lightroom.

Tags: Gallery, Photo, Portrait

Photo Shoot in the Hamptons

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I did a quick outdoor photo shoot during Labor Day week end. The setup was really basic : One light (an outdoor spotlight) in the back top right corner and the umbrella in the front left at a 45 degree angle. All the pictures were taken with the Nikkor 85mm at f1/.8. Some of the pictures were out of focus. The only explanation I can think of is that there may have been fog on the lens due to the humidity in the air.

As usual, I post color-corrected the photos using Adobe Lightroom:

Tags: Gallery, Lightroom, Photo, Portrait

Nikon Nikkor 85mm f/1.8D AF

I bought a new lens : a Nikkor 85mm f/1.8D AF. 1.8 aperture will give my pictures nice bokeh and 85mm will give me enough distance to take headshots without being intrusive. I’m going to make it my primary portrait lens.

It took me a while to admit to it but there’s a real difference between a zoom lens (what I was using) and a prime lens (the 85mm) – after trying it I was amazed at how much sharper the image was. The autofocus impressed me even more – it works at lightning speeds! Most modern lenses are equipped with an internal motorized autofocus, which doesn’t make them any faster. The versatility of a zoom lens makes it average at any focal length. I know this isn’t a revelation but: the perfect lens doesn’t exist.

I’m starting to think I won’t ever go back to zoom lenses. I’ll just stick to prime. I am now selling my Sigma 18-50mm f/2.8 HSM Macro.

Here’s my wishlist:

• AF NIKKOR 20mm f/2.8D
• AF NIKKOR 50mm f/1.4D
• AF NIKKOR 85mm f/1.8D (checked)
• AF NIKKOR 105mm f/2.8D Micro

Maybe the list will change in time. I’ll keep you posted.

Tags: Bokeh, Gear, Lens, Nikkor, Nikon, Photo, Portrait, Prime, Sigma