This could also be titled: Why I’m looking forward to Sony’s A900 DSLR.

Here is a professional camera resolution comparison chart for those interested in upgrading their camera body this fall.

A few interesting points:

• The new Sony A900 and *speculative* Nikon D3X will hopefully shake things up a bit. Right now, the 21MP Canon 1Ds III is quite overpriced. Some believe the Sony 24MP body will be priced at $3000 (USD) which would make it a very attractive studio camera that could rival the MF backs.
• The 60.5MP digital back from Phase One is simply overkill. I can’t imagine many small firms having the infrastructure to support the data, let alone be able to afford the hefty price tag.
• The 31MP digital backs appear to be the best image size to price value. The 39MP image doesn’t seem to justify another $10,000.

Lets say a Sony A900 kit, including a Tamron 28-75mm f/2,8 and a Tamron 90mm macro lens cost $4,000, and a Phase One kit consisting of the digital back, the body, lens, and an additional macro lens (for studio work) will cost around $25,000 (CAD). That’s over six times the cost for better image quality but a heck of a lot less versatility. You would have a much smaller package (good for travel), a wide angle lens, in body stabilization, hopefully clean ISO up to 1600, about 3-4 frames per second, among other things.

If the Sony A900 doesn’t compare to the Canon and Nikon image quality, which we are spoiled with, then again, it’s a studio camera. We shouldn’t be so emotional about image quality. In a studio, you rarely shoot over ISO 100 anyways.

Thanks to my bro Pete for noticing an ad campaign used throughout Yaletown:

It’s a scan, so it looks a little washed out. It’s nice to come across these things in your home town. Well,  I wouldn’t exactly call Yaletown my hometown, maybe the greater Vancouver area

Here is the original stock photo.

I just added a few more of our stock photos to the portfolio page. I love this one:

^ Download this photo

We got back from Thailand almost a month ago, and we’re finally getting back to a routine. The jetlag, time difference, and lack of sleep for two days left me with a really nasty flu. But I’ve bounced back and I’m working hard on processing more stock photos from previous photo shoots. I haven’t really touched my camera since I got back!

Here is one of my favorite stock images that we took in Thailand:

^ Download this photo

We wanted to make this shoot as authentic as possible, so we rented a traditional Thai dress and accessories. Jayna did an incredible job with Makeup and Hair Styling with a very limited kit (hairspray from 7-11). Her welcoming gesture is the typical Thai greeting Sawat dee ka, meaning Hello. During this shoot at a Wat (Buddhist temple) in Northern Thailand we had 100’s of tourists snapping shots behind me throughout the day. Very annoying.

We’ve got a few more photos trickling through the system and soon there should be about 20 solid stock images available from Thailand.

With about a week left before our trip to Thailand, I was able to process and upload a handful of photos from our recent fitness photoshoot. Here are a couple:

^ Download this photo

A simple group portrait of a diverse group of fitness lovers. What great models! 15 logos and / or trademarks were removed from this photo, making it a real pain.

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A portrait of a personal trainer with people working out in the background. We like these types of shots because it creates a focal point which aids in telling a story.

^ Download this photo

A somewhat candid stock photo of a Caucasian woman and an African American man comparing their biceps. I need to work out more

We will soon lightbox all of our fitness and healthy lifestyle images. Thanks for looking!

We just finished our fitness / exercising / weight training photoshoot and it appears to be a smashing success (considering the 5AM start time). Thanks to Traci from the City of Surrey for hooking us up with such a great location. The models were incredible to work with. Jayna’s friend Amy was a great help, and of course Jayna did an amazing job pulling it all together. It was supposed to be a fitness photoshoot to end all fitness photoshoots, but that statement may have been a bit too ambitious. I felt a little ‘cold’ since I hadn’t done a shoot in a while, but I think I warmed up right after the sunrise (which was 7AM).

Our blog is live and I’m really excited to start writing! Stay tuned…