Nikkor Lenses

As many of you know, I shoot part of my work on Nikon D800 and all my travel on my Nikon F100.

I got two Nikon bodies and three Nikkor Lenses. I use the 24-70mm F/2.8 G and 70-200mm F/2.8 VRII G on D800 and 50mm F/1.4 G on F100. 

From those three lenses I'd say 70-200mm G VRII is the Sharpest and also the least used Lens in my bag. The reason it is the least used is because of its big size and hard to hand handle for long period of time, don't get me wrong I will not shy away from the lens as long as I have the opportunity to use it. 

In order to use the 70-200mm VR-II, I'll need a full time access to big studio. I don't use it on location because its weight and narrow picture angle for the type of work I do. If I am in location I'd like to show the location and having very narrow view of the place is working against the purpose of shooting in location. 

So in a month or so I'll be selling the 70-200mm and buying 85mm F/1.4 G, but I'm also having mixed feelings because the 70-200 is a very versatile lens, it covers important focal lengths like 85mm, 105mm, 135mm and 200mm. 

I was considering on selling the Nikkor 24-70mm 2.8 G and buying the newer Nikkor 24-70mm F/2.8 E VR version when it was first announced but then the reviews of the lens changed my mind. If I am going to pay £600 more for something that I already have, it has to be a VAST improvement over it, and with the newer version I don't see it. 

If Nikon intrudes newer versions of 35mm F/1.4 and 50mm F/1.4 which are optimised for todays high resolution sensors, then I can give my Nikkor 24-70mm F/2.8 G lens a long deserved break in my bag and use 35mm, 50mm and 85mm in almost all of my fashion shoots. But no matter what happens I'll have my 24-70mm in the bag, ready to save the day. 

Updates I want to make in 2016 and Onwards

So as the new year approaches I take a look at the past and evaluate my self. This is not a new-year resolution post like making a stupid promise and not keeping with it, example not eating junk food and etc. 

So this is more about evaluating my self as a photographer and making some changes or reforms in the way of work, type of work and gear. 

I haven't shot many tests, or personal projects this year and I'd like to change that. I'd like to work with more stylists, and shoot more and more tests paid or unpaid doesn't matter.

I'd like to shoot more ART based personal projects, and when I say art based, I mean that more creative freedom and out of the limitations of guidelines such as fashion limitations, styling repetitions, framing, ethical concerns etc. 

There are few upgrades I'd like to do to my gear as well. For example when I look at my work I see that my Nikkor 70-200mm 2.8 VRII lens hasn't been used in some time, so Im considering on selling that lens and getting 85mm F/1.4; I'll be writing about the gear update in a separate blogpost. 

Also I'll start saving money for Profoto B1 twin head and bag kit. (its about 3200£)

Merry Christmas Everyone

Camera: Nikon D800 + Nikkor 24-70mm

Fashion Photography - Sweet Sixteen!

Here is a photo from the photoshoot I did with my friend Carolina about a year ago, for the Old Tat Magazine. I love the props from this shoot, as usual, we spray painted the straw and the can. Link to the shoot here.

Camera: Nikon D800 + Nikkor 24-70mm

Team

Photographer: Bugra Ergil (me)

Stylist: Carolina Mizrahi

Hair - MUA: Rose Angus

Set Designer: Ellie Jelly 

Model: Sasha @Space

Post Production: Argiris Maipas

Assistants: Tess Pisani, Mo Zhou 

Anti-Newton Ring Glass and Scanning Negatives

This has been one of the things I've been researching for some time. During my years at London College of Fashion, I had access to many great tools for photography, including 4x5 large format cameras, Tetenal C-41 dip and dunk tanks processing room and many more . . . However the tool I miss the most and want to have one here on my desk but can't afford is Hasselblad Flextight X1 drum scanner (Virtual Drum Scanner). Works like a drum scanner but technically not a drum scanner. Thanks for the info Ben! 

Because of my limited budget I could only spend about £500 which was more than enough for the next best thing which is Epson Perfection V750 Pro. The difference between these two scanners besides the £9000 price gap is that the Epson is flatbed scanner optimised for film scanning and the Hasselblad scanner is drum scanner (virtual drum scanner) only made for film scanning. 

Since I used Hasselblad scanner about 3 years and purchased my own Epson after my graduation, I noticed that Epson isn't giving me the best image quality when compared to Hasselblad. However in my research I found many ways of optimising the quality of epson, one of which is ANR(anti newton ring) glass. 

So the research I did is not only reading web forums or comments and etc. I actually take it to testing level to see why images are not as sharp as they could be, which was bit obvious. The negatives in the Epson Scanner or any flatbed scanner is arching and in Hasselblad X1 scanner all the arching is controlled and minimal compared to flatbed scanners. 

The Hasselblad X1 is holding the negatives in thin flexible metal plates which the centre area is cut open like a window and the negatives are held there with thin flexible magnets which again the centre part is open, this gives a firm grip on the negative and not allowing the negative arch in a unwanted way. In the process of scanning X1 takes the film tray in and bends it in a way it gets all the unwanted arching, furthermore the lens inside the scanner can focus on the negative, where the flatbed scanners have a fixed focal length. 

Another thing to note is X1 has better optics however the biggest factor of this is the autofocusing and glass free optical scan (No glass between the lens and film) 

So now that we know why the images from X1 have the edge in quality, how can we maximise the quality of Epson V750 scans?

The best thing we can do is prevent the negative from Arching/Curving. So the use of ANR glass plays a good role in here as the diagram below demonstrates. 

Is ANR glass always necessary? Because after all you are putting another piece of glass on top of your negative? 

I'd say it certainly prevents the negatives from arching while they are in the scanner, but if the negative is already straight to begin with and will stay straight in the scanner as well, then there is very little to notice. 

Before buying the ANR glass I looked in to why do negatives arch and can I prevent it? 

So in this search I came to conclusion that:

• All negatives arch when exposed to heath "heath is a factor"
• Not all negatives have that "natural arch" 

The heath:

For those who don't know me. I'm like a polar bear, I like cold and I don't turn the heating on in winter and currently the house is just under 18ºC(18.12.2015) So in winter the heath is not a big factor for me, however when I put any negative on top of my hot Laptop I can see the negative arching right in front of me. AND! the CCFL lighting in the scanner do tend to get warmer, so more film scanned warmer the scanner will get, this can result the negative curving or arching in the scanner tray. This is where ANR glass can be helpful. 

Naturally arched ?? Is this real?? 

So I looked at two black and white negatives I processed at home. Fomapan 400ISO and Ilford FP4+ 125ISO

I don't know why Fomapan negatives processed in the same way as Ilford started to arch and why Ilford stayed flat? maybe its because it's the most affordable BW film In the market who knows. But some films do tend to arch naturally, so Having a ANR glass will not be bad decision, its like you will be prepared for anything.

Below I show 2 cuts of 120 film shot in Mamiya RZ67 ProII and processed in HC-110 and Ilford Hypam Fixer. 

What about scans? 

I'll show the scans from Ilford, with and without the ANR glass to demonstrate ANR glass. However as I said before if the negatives do not arch in the scanner or by them self it becomes very hard to notice. 

Light Setup #6

Olwen!
Here is the light setup I used to photograph Olwen, in the beauty shoot. I wanted to have a direct diffused light on her so I can get different types of shades as she tilts and shifts her head.

The Backdrop is 1 and 1/4 stop less than the model. I used a large beauty dish with sock diffuser  about one a foot long above the lens. Black panels are mainly there to kill the spill light from umbrellas on the model.

Shooting Medium Format Polaroid Back

It is truly a wonderful feeling for any photographer to get instant results, and Im not talking about tethering to big screen, chimping to cameras LCD or even the instants from SX70 and its new Impossible project "which has it's own beauty". Im talking about the Polaroid film made for Polaroid land cameras and Medium format cameras with special Polaroid backs.

In Colour and Black and White film there is only one brand left which still makes the film and every night and before I go to bed I pray to God *Flying Spaghetti Monster* that fuji not to discontinue *knocks on wood*
So What is so good about shooting medium format with Polaroid backs?

1. If you are only using film in the shoot, you get to see a preview and a reference to the light & photograph.
2. You get the full control of exposure since you are shooting with medium format. 
3. You can test different lights, exposure (ex: Lit backdrop, not lit backdrop etc...) and even multiple exposures without using your films, and get instant results. 

So here are the photos I shot and worked on from the last time I used Polaroid back on my Mamiya RZ67 ProII. 

Camera: Mamiya RZ67 ProII + 127mm 3.8

Fuji FP-100c

Team: 

Photographer: Bugra Ergil (ME)

Stylist: Zoe Springer

Makeup Artist: Maria Vez

Hair Stylist: Elettra Guggeri 

Male Model: Reece Harold @Premier

Female Model: Freya J Duffy @Premier

The Unseen - 3

Provocateur !
My initial idea was to shoot on colour reversal film and cross-processing them, but after I take a look at the clothes and the colour of the clothes in the shoot I decided to stick with Black&White Film.
However the closeups, I decided to use the leftover colour reversal film. Today when I was looking at the old HDD's I found my Positive scans of the Colour reversal film cross-processed and I like them. I think I might use the idea on my future shoots as mood or filler photos.

Camera: Nikon F100 + 50mm 1.4

Film: Fuji Provia 100F Cross-processed

Scanned With: Hasselblad Flextight X1 as positive

Team:

Photographer: Bugra Ergil (ME)

Stylist: Elle Baron

Makeup & Hair: Amie Williams 

Model: Samara @MilkManagement 

Photographing Deers

What happens when a Portrait/Fashion photographers shoot Wild Deers??? Easy answer: Very Stylish Deers. 
My friend Murat came up with the idea of Shooting Deers and by "Shooting" I mean Photographing them, and he suggested that we go on a adventure to Richmond Park. So I packed my Nikkor 70-200mm VR II. The deers were so relaxed they came really close to us, so close that I had to take few steps back in order to get the best framing with 70-200mm.

Camera: Nikon D800 with Nikkor 70-200VR II

Exposure: 1/500s at f/3.2 - ISO 200

The Unseen - 2

Avatar!
This is one I really like, and wished we could submit it to magazine in our final photos, but the framing of the model was making the magazine viewing a bit complicating because she would come in the centre page binding part.

Camera: Nikon D800 + 24-70mm 

Team: 

Photographer: Bugra Ergil (me)

Stylist - Artdirector: Carolina Mizrahi 

Makeup Artist: Scarlet Burton

Hair Stylist: Terry Capon

Post Production: Argiris Maipas

Model: Katie @Milk

Light Setup #5

5 Light Setup . . . Wish I had more ;) 
Here is the Light Setup I did while shooting the "Soft Androgynous" shoot. I wanted to make a Light source big enough to cover two models head to toe with same exposure and have the backdrop 1 stop less than the keylight.

Exposure from background is 1 stop less than the exposure from the models, I used 8x8ft textured grind cloth raised about a foot from the floor and looking down at the models an a slight angle, behind the textured grind cloth I placed 3 bare bulb 1000W strobes firing at 5.5/7 power (why that strange power setting because I wanted specific f stop in both Film and Digital camera.

Curious to see how it looks click on Read more below.

The Unseen - 1

Brilliant!
I just came up with the idea of making a section of photos which I like but didn't make the selection for reasons such as and not limited to, repetition of styling, not fitting to the mood/story/idea, framing, ethics . . . etc.
If I gather enough photographs I might make a section called The Unseen in my online portfolio. 

Camera 1: Mamiya RZ67 ProII + 127mm 3.8

Camera 2: Nikon D800 + 24-70mm

Team: 

Photographer: Bugra Ergil (ME)

Stylist: Zoe Springer

Makeup Artist: Maria Vez

Hair Stylist: Elettra Guggeri 

Model: Freya J Duffy @Premier

Shoot me like "Terry" - 11

Oh Yeah its good to be back. 
Its been some time since I last posted a Shoot me like "Terry" photo in my blog, last 4 or 5 shoots I did was bit too crowded and tiring that neither the models or I had time or energy to have fun after the shoot. However since I finished this 8 hour planned shoot in six hours, I could spend one hour on mischief and one hour in cleanup!

Camera: Nikon D800 + 24-70mm

Photographer: Bugra Ergil (me)

Model: Freya J Duffy @Premier

Firing Up My Mamiya RZ67 ProII

Its been almost a year since I last used my Mamiya RZ67 ProII. The main reason for this was one of my Mamiya film back had a light leak issue that didn't get fixed in service at Camera Clinic which I am very disappointed.

Now that I purchased 2 new ProII backs, I think that error is corrected, we will see in future shoots.
More photos and the lighting setup is coming soon . . . Very soon.

Camera: Mamiya RZ67 ProII + 127mm 3.8

Film: Kodak Portra 160

Scanner: Epson Perfection V750 Pro 

Team: 

Photographer: Bugra Ergil (ME)

Stylist: Zoe Springer

Makeup Artist: Maria Vez

Hair Stylist: Elettra Guggeri 

Male Model: Reece Harold @Premier

Female Model: Freya J Duffy @Premier

Behind the Camera Androgynous & Soft

Oh it has been some time since I did a photo shoot that I enjoyed working on. However that doesn't mean I didn't enjoy other shoots, maybe it was the excitement of working complete new team. 

Mamiya RZ67 PROII Film Magazine

Mamiya RZ67 PROII is surely one of the most versatile analog medium format camera ever made. 
It is built to last, and capable of shooting in most medium format frame sizes, you can shoot 6x7 which is the default, 6x6 (square), and 6x4,5.

You can use all the previous backs of the RZ67 series.

I've been using my Mamiya RZ67 ProII with 2 backs from previous versions, and after I find that one of my back(the oldest one) I sent them to get serviced and resealed, and then again I find out that the oldest back is once again light leaking, re-servicing it over and over again is annoying thus I decided to invest in a brand new back.

When I opened the new film-back I found out that internally it is very different and more efficient in use of black foam seal. Below are the photos if the film magazines.

Entire edge parts of the older versions door (top once) is covered with light seal foam, and the newer version has some kind of walling which is plastic. The most important part is the near corner parts by the dark slide, which is again covered by light seal foam but covered by walling in newer version. Having solid parts which are blocking the light is better than having soft light seal which can wear off by time, humidity, temperature and usage.

My opinion and recommendation if you are buying new Mamiya or film magazine for your camera, check the back and make sure you get the latest version.

Computers & Monitors

Non Photographic Equipment

We all know the importance of Photographic equipment/gear. Cameras, lenses, accessories, Negative - Positive film, software and applications which are essential for photographers. But what about the equipment that photographers use for their work but it is not made only for photography, such as Computers and Monitors.

I'd like to write about computer and computer monitor (mainly the monitor) in here.
Almost all of my friends who are in the photography except my photographer colleagues ask me this question when ever technology based topic is being discussed.

If you are getting serious and want to do photography more seriously, there will be a time that you will have to spend money and buy computer. Since I get e-mails(sometimes) from readers of the blog regarding medium format and starting out gear, I thought I'd share an advise or two regarding computer and most importantly, the monitor.

So here it goes  . . . If you are a person who like to do the research, and watch many videos on photographers and their workflow and see them using an Imac, don't try to imitate their setup.

I am listing apple, because my knowledge is better at apple products even that I dislike apple products since 2013

Imac:
Imac is a good computer but the monitor is good if you want to watch stuff. The monitor colours being too vivid, the monitor being glossy is already giving you a disadvantage, you want to see as accurate as possible, accurate in colour without the reflections of other colourful objects around the room. You don't want to see a reflection your self when working on Black colours.

Mac Pro:
A work beast which can be customised for many propose. Photographers will mostly need more processing power over more cores in CPU, Quad-core or 6 core will be best suited for photography. But Mac Pro is extremely expensive there are better ways to spend the money, if your budget can only afford Mac Pro but not more.

Macbook Pro:
Not so "Pro" when compared to its predecessors. Though the speed has improved thanks to PCI-e based flash drive, apple made 2 mistakes since 2012. First they Discontinued the Matt screen in macbook pro specifications, and second they have taken out the ethernet entry port which u can buy separately from  apple starting £25 to £80.

Hakintosh:
If you are sick and tired of overpriced computers of apple and want to build your own, you can always build a Hackintosh yourself. (Mac OS X) installed in PC. With the money u can spend on Mac Pro you can actually build a monster computer so fast that i can travel in time and space. One thing that is for sure is that you will need patience and the knowledge to keep it working.

I wouldn't be so concerned about the Computer it self, it has to be fast enough to smoothly run Photoshop and big files you open in it. your computer will mostly need and benefit from a Dedicated graphics card (not the intel Iris shizzle) about 16gb if not more Ram and Vram of 1GB or grater. SSD (solid state drive) is always a benefit, if you want the stability of HDD tho go with HDD which is 7200 RPM or greater, and CPU of 2.4 GHZ or greater (greater preferred)

Monitor: 
This is very important once you have a computer that can handle your workflow.
your monitor will be your eyes on Postproduction, don't be fooled by the amount of pixels that are squeezed in monitors, if more pixels = Better monitor than some new smartphones are better than many monitors out there. But this is of corse false.

You will need to know what to look for in monitors before buying one.
Important things that you need to know are:

Colour Accuracy of the monitor? 
There are two major colour profiles which are used to most they are Adobe RGB1998 and sRGB, Web is based on sRGB and Printers vary from sRGB to Adobe RGB 1998 however most high-end printers will have colour profiles of the paper and ink they use. But adobe RGB is a wide colour profile which will cover most of the other profiles. Good monitors are about 98% - 99% adobe RGB accurate.

What gamut is it? 
There are two options in here Wide Gamut or Standard Gamut. Wide gamut monitors will display a lot more colour than standard gamut, however you need to Calibrate the monitor at least once every month in order to use the monitor to its fullest potential. A wide gamut monitor will show 1 Billion colours and Standard gamut will be showing 16 millions or more.

Bit rate in showing simultaneous colour.
This is bit more technical and needs photo examples to demonstrate.
Monitors will have either 8 bit or 10 bit colour, when displaying simultaneous colour, 8 bit monitors will struggle and show some kind of colour pattern deformation, Eizo monitors website demonstrates this well.

What type of panel is it?
These days IPS become an Industry standard or at least it is on it its way to become the new "standard" IPS: In Panel Switching, allows the viewer to see the monitor from different angles without the changes in colour. Which means you can look at your monitor form any angle possible and you will still see the colours same way as you are looking at it from a direct angle.

Matt display?
This is very important in editing photos. There are external factors in the room that you don't want interfering with your photos. These can be: Light reflecting on your monitors surface, your monitor reflecting your self and other objects around it when working on blacks. A matt display will be reflection free.

What kind of controls you have?
Can you adjust the RGB gains, fine tune the brightness, contrast and black levels. The (Imac - Macbook Pro gives brightness control but not as sensitive as it should be) recomended brightness is Luminance of 120 cd/m2. If you don't have full control over these, you wont be able to calibrate the monitor it its fullest potential.

What is the backlight? 
Though now the backlight technology has improved since last 5 years, (before the LED backlight monitors could not represent accurate colours, so many High-end monitors thus they vere CCFL backlit. (like mine)

Monitor Calibration.
This is by far most important thing if you are using a Wide gamut monitor for photography. Simply put, if you are using a high end wide gamut, 99% Adobe RGB accurate, IPS matt display monitor without hardware calibration, then you might as well shoot Jpeg with Hasselblad H5D and print the images on toilet paper.

My Setup: 
My Current setup is 15inch Mid 2012 Macbook pro (Matt display) 2.7 GHZ Quad core, 16GB RAM, Nvidia GeForce GT 650M 1GB VRAM, 1TB Crucial SSD. Connected to LACIE 324i monitor via Thunderbolt Display port.
Monitor calibration Software and Hardware: X-Rite i1 Display Pro

My latest monitor calibrating result

Useful links to Read:

Link 1 (keep on going to next page)

Link 2 (keep on going to next page)

Shooting Beautiful Potatoes

Have you ever had enough with shooting beautiful/handsome models? I did! In this photoshoot I photographed pretty bizarre things. Joking aside, who knew spray painting everyday objects and photographing them with proper lighting results in pretty interesting results. 

Camera: Nikon D800 + 24-70mm 

Team: 

Photographer: Bugra Ergil (me)

Stylist: Carolina Mizrahi

Set Designer: Ellie Jelly

Post Production: Argiris Maipas

Model: Pringles ;-)

Behind the Camera - Olwen

While just testing the light and other technical shizvoir(my own made-up word) I realised that, I had some photo left in my Pentax 67ii, knowing that it isn't the best studio beauty camera, I told my self "What the hell lets give it a shot" and shoot some photos of Lovely Olwen.

Knowing that Pentax 67ii has a laughable 1/30sec of flash sync speed, I worried about the ambient light effecting the backdrop exposure and colour . . . it did. However the results aren't as bad as I imagined. Also the shoot being shot on D800 and reason I used Pentax 67ii is solely to finish the leftover film in the Camera, I'm happy with the result. 

Camera: Pentax 67ii + 105mm 

Film: Kodak Portra 160
Scanned With Epson Perfection V750 PRO

Sometimes a smile can be better than a directed pose . . . sometimes(not always) ;-)

Team
Photographer: Bugra Ergil (Me)
Styling: Maysa Nogueira
Hair&MUA: Louise Hall
Model: Olwen @M+p models

Link to shoot click here. 

Behind the Camera - Avatar

Group Shot!
This is the team behind the 2nd shoot I've done for the Old Tat Magazine's 2nd Issue. 

We had to build a set in the studio and of course paint it PINK. The studio owner (very skilled man) Adrian Pini built the set prior to the shoot and everything else was spray painted at my garden in the cold winter nights. After 4 days and 7 spray paint canisters we were done and ready to shoot.

Photos will be coming soon . . . after magazine is printed.

Ps. Loot at me I look so SINISTER !!!

Behind the Camera - Big Kids Shoot

Group Shot!

After a long day of photoshoot, its feels nice to take a group Photo with everyone working in the photography set and then shout out loud ITS A WRAP.

Wow just realised that I was the only boy in the team.