Lance, our corporate mascot. Full height backgrounds that go out onto the floor. Love 'em. Photo taken with the Nikon 24-70mm F/2.8 and the Polaroid Pro backdrop system.
I rented one of these for an indoor shoot to create our trade show banners. The pictures were printed five feet tall, almost life size. We needed the best quality pictures we could get and this is the best lens Nikon makes in this focal range. This lens is the best they make, as evidenced by the gold-plated front ring and the nickname “gold ring Nikon.”
The autofocus system is the fastest I’ve ever used. Faster even than the 70-200mm F/2.8. This is a heavy, expensive lens, but the build quality is fantastic and images look great. No complaints.
Beside the cost and weight the only downside is the 24-70mm focal length itself. You either want that focal range or you don’t. I don’t think I’d like it outdoors because of the limited range, but it’s useful for fast-paced people photography indoors. If you aren’t doing fast-paced photography then the alternative to a normal range zoom is to use a lightweight, normal prime and zoom with your feet.
I’m doing more portraits and videos at work. In the past I had been using white walls as backgrounds or using greenscreens tacked up with pushpins. I finally ordered a real backdrop.
The Polaroid Pro backdrop system is tall and wide. It’s extremely sturdy. With a little practice I discovered I could set the whole thing up and break it down by myself.
Some of the cheaper backdrops are not fully adjustable for width. You have to remove an entire pole section to fit them into a tight space, which means they may no longer be wide enough. With the Polaroid the horizontal pole telescopes to adjust width. The vertical supports are basically lightstands, more or less. When not being used for a backdrop you can put them to other creative uses, though you’ll need some creativity to attach things to the top.
The package includes three backdrops – white, black, and greenscreen/chroma key for video. The backdrops are long enough to go far out onto the floor for full length photos, which I’m in love with now. Add a short step ladder and you can get some very cool perspective shots above the person.
Paul Buff CyberSync radio flash triggers
We’re using these in a portrait photography class at UTK. The same transmitter works on Canon and Nikon hotshoes, which is handy in a class environment where people are using both.
The basic transmitter is only $60. Pretty reasonable price if the receivers are compatible with your equipment. The receivers obviously work with Paul Buff lights like the Alien Bees, Einsteins, and White Lightnings. Beyond that you have to check the compatibility page.
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that Nikon objective is my fav! i use it at indoor/outdoor photos as well. I think it is the best for this price on the market. the autofocus is truly the fastest.
A gray background doesn’t sound exciting, but really it’s just light black, or dark white. As such, it can be made to photograph as white, black, or any color. If it’s 18% gray, it can help pull exposures toward the “normal” range. I once had a corner of a room with the corners blended, and painted roughly 18% gray.