When it’s time to choose your senior portrait photographer, you may feel pressured to use whomever your school recommends. Or you may end up at a studio that shoots with the same sets as everyone else, resulting in senior pictures that look like everyone else’s!

At Long Shots Photography, we offer on-location shoots in addition to studio shoots. That means you choose the location, or we can help you choose from a number of unique spots that will help make your photos stand out. We still have a few senior sessions available this summer. Give us a call before we’re completely booked!

I also recently completed the DVD of the show, and we’re doing something new with it this year. This Saturday, we’ll be having a premier viewing of the DVD at Midtown Cinema! This will also provide you with an opportunity to take home your DVD (which includes both performances) early if you ordered in advance. Order your tickets now, and we’ll see you this weekend. Also, feel free to contact me if you’ve not yet ordered your DVD.

Galleries are divided by which evening your dancer has class: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday. If your child’s class was combined with another, you may find her pictures on the other evening’s gallery. A few of the galleries that combined students from several classes (e.g., the cover shot and Peter and the Wolf) are found in the Monday gallery.

We’re offering packages this year. Those options can be found by clicking “Buy” next to your photo choice, then selecting “Package from this Pro”.

I’m grateful for your assistance and hope you enjoy your photographs.

Why would you want a prime lens when it so severely limits your versatility? For one, good image quality is much more affordable in a prime lens. It’s difficult to make a lens that has good image quality (IQ) across a wide range of focal lengths, and that’s reflected in the price. Along with that, a prime lens is typically the easiest way to gain the ability to shoot fast. A Nikon D3S will allow you to shoot at ISO 102,400 (you read that right!), but it won’t throw the background behind your subject out of focus like a 50mm f/1.8 lens on a Rebel XSi.

How can you overcome the limitations introduced by a prime lens? Often, you can do it on foot. If you want to zoom in, take a few steps forward; to zoom out, step back (but watch where you’re going!). Your mileage may vary. If you’re in tight quarters, you won’t be able to photograph a group; conversely, if you’re trying to shoot a deer on a hill, you won’t get much detail.

Note that on most SLRs (with a 1.6x crop factor), the 50mm acts like an 80mm lens, which is more of a telephoto. For that reason, it’s especially good for taking pictures of children (active or not) without requiring a flash.

Shortly after I wrote Saturday’s post, Phototuts+ put up a great series of images taken with what they call “Nifty Fifty” lenses. I’ve included several in this post as well. Enjoy!

ISO 400, 12mm, f/4.0, 1/20 sec

Which model should you buy? I generally recommend the least expensive. Right now, that means the Canon Rebel XSi or the Nikon D3000. (The Canon link is for body only; the Nikon link includes a “kit lens” that I would recommend replacing.)

You can spend more money on a camera, but your lens investment is far more important. Cameras are replaced every few years, but people hold onto their lenses. And the quality of your images has more to do with the lens than with the camera. I recommend the 50mm f/1.8 for Canon users. For Nikon users, there’s a 35mm f/1.8 available (see the comments from Matt Speicher below for more information about Nikon lenses). Fast prime (fixed focal length) lenses like these are great for a few reasons.

- they’re inexpensive

- they’re very fast, allowing you to shoot indoors without a flash

- they’re small and light, making the camera more portable

- their image quality is superior to almost any other lens under $500 and many lenses under $1000

- the single focal length eliminates a decision from every shot you take (zooming is not an option)

Zoom lenses like the Canon 28-200 are nice in terms of their range, but there are trade-offs.

- they cost more

- they’re heavier

- image quality is not as good

- they are slower, which will require flash in more situations (image stabilization (aka vibration reduction) helps, but still doesn’t bridge the gap)

That said, at some point you’ll want to buy a zoom lens. That’s when friends with SLRs come in handy so you can borrow their lenses and try them out. I use pro lenses for portrait shoots, but my “walking around” lens is the Tamron 28-300. They make a Nikon version, too. The image quality is not as good as that offered by the 50mm f/1.8, but it’s very versatile (if a bit slow).

Eventually, you may want to pick up a macro lens for close-up photography, or a wide-angle lens (which was used in the photo above) for a different perspective. I’d avoid getting wrapped up in the hardware, though; there are a lot of good pictures waiting to be taken with your new SLR and 50mm lens. I just created two galleries in which all of the photos were taken with a 50mm lens. I enjoyed taking the photos and, though at first I thought not having my zoom lens along would be a problem, I was very happy with the results.

While I consider the G11 a sweet spot when it comes to price, performance, and portability, I understand that there are numerous other factors that go into choosing a camera. The G11 gives us a place to start, but it may not be the right choice. There are many great cameras available for less than $400, if price is an issue. There are also many point-and-shoot cameras that are smaller.

On the other hand, maybe the delay when you press the shutter release on your point-and-shoot has resulted in too many lost shots. Or perhaps you’re looking to take even more creative control of your photos. In that case, it may be time to consider a digital SLR.