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.