”On Top Of The World”
©David A. Ziser
This is an image I made back in my early digital Nikon days. It was actually made during one of my Digital Master Classes. Those of you reading this and who have attended my class know the location well – Drees Pavilion, overlooking Cincinnati, OH and the Ohio River Valley. Which, with the incredible view makes Drees Pavilion one of the most popular wedding venue locations in Cincinnati, OH.
When you check the camera specs below, you’ll find that my shutter speed was 1/500 second. That was my favorite feature about the D1x camera, it had the same sync speed as my medium format Hasselblad – 1/500 second. With the faster shutter speed, I could easily add richness to the sky by underexposing it slightly. Most cameras that became available on the market after the Nikon D1x was introduced reduced the sync speed to 1/250 second – rats!
The main reason for the switch to slower shutter speeds was the fact that the sensor on the Nikon D1x was a CCD sensor as opposed to the CMOS sensor all cameras have these days. The CCD sensor could handle the higher sync speed than the CMOS sensors of today. You can find more discussion on the topic right here.
This is really just a classical portrait of the bride against the cityscape of downtown Cincinnati, OH in the distance. The pose is easy and flattering. The light is coming in from camera left – Quantum strobe at full power pointed directly at the bride – no Zumbrella in this situation. Balancing the ambient with the strobe gave me the image I was going for.
Camera specs: Nikon D1x fitted with 18-35mm Nikkor lens at 21mm, F9.0 @ 1/500 second, ISO 400. Enjoy! -David
David, I've just recently started reading your blog after reading about it in your book, "Captured by the Light." Love your work, love that you're a David (I'm a David too!) and I love the fact that you're practically (a ways) down the road from me (I live just east of Ann Arbor, MI) and that you're not another fabulous photography from the west coast, or Florida.
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