The Nikon D4 is here. Because everyone and their brother has an opinion on it and because people far more capable than me have already had a chance to play with it, I'm simply going to make some comments and observations based on what I've seen and know about this camera.

Strategy. Unlike Canon, which seems to have blended their high end line into a single body, Nikon has remained true to form with the D4. It's an upgrade from the D3/s body and nothing more. It adds loads of features for sure, but does nothing to disrupt the hierarchy of bodies which Nikon loyalists have come to understand. No, Nikon will wait and do that with the upcoming D800. More on this later...

When Canon set out with the 1Dx they were looking to try and make something that suited almost everyone. They kept, and in fact, improved on the high speed shooting abilities of the 1D Mark IV, but did so for the first time with a full frame sensor as opposed to the 1.3x APS-H size sensor which was standard on their photojournalist/sports bodies for years.

They met on middle ground with the resolution for this sensor. They bumped it up from the Mark IV's 16 but dropped it down from the 1Ds Mark III's 21, and the result is 18MP. This sentence alone is proof of why so many users might just be happy with the merger - too many Marks to keep up with!

Canon also loaded the camera with twin processors and loads of new video features, etc., which you can read more about in my other post or check out the discussions online. The concept I wanted to briefly discuss was this: That Canon married the 1D and 1Ds lines to produce a hybrid of sorts that would best suite the widest spectrum of needs. It seems that for straight studio work Canon users will stick with the 5D Mark II or the upcoming Mark III upgrade.

Back to Nikon. So, Nikon's approach to the D4 was more streamlined. In fact, it was really just an upgrade to the already excellent D3 line. This is not to say that they didn't add features, but they really didn't change what the line is known for. It's more of a refining than a rebirth.

So, what's under the hood? More resolution. Those who felt they were behind the megapixel curve with a  scant 12MP now have 16 at their disposal. So, this is a larger increase in resolution than owners of the 1D Mark IV will see in the new 1Dx, but remember, the Mark IV was already at 16MP. The D3 series has had a full frame sensor, so there's no change there. Nikon's D3x will remain the megapixel leader until the D800 shows up. Again, more on this later.

The Nikon also gets a better buffer, faster frame rates, a new silent shutter mode (limited to 2MP), better AF performance especially in low light and a slightly larger screen (3.2 inches vs. 3 inches) that keeps the same resolution. The 1Dx has3.2" screen as well, but with higher resolution. There are also a few button layout tweaks that, from my perspective, seem to be improvements. Every camera get's these little tweaks. So, what, besides the almighty resolution, does the D4 get? Let's take a look.

Perhaps my favorite new feature on this camera is the illuminated buttons. I shoot in dark environments quite a bit so I can appreciate this upgrade beyond its obviously being cool. Wedding, event, sports and nature photographers are going to love this new feature. It keeps you from having to feel your way around in the dark and from memorizing everything in order to navigate your controls and menu settings. Below is a screen shot from Nikon's promotional video. Click on the image to view the YouTube clip.

PS - if you don't want a D4 yet, the video will make you want one. It shows all of the cool features while playing an Oscar-worthy score of triumph. I think they got Hans Zimmer to do it, but I digress...

I should clarify the title of this article. I'm not in any way suggesting that photographers and graphic designers don't put their talents to good use every day in the workplace. I simply want to discuss using your talents to help others and doing so on a volunteer basis.

Many photographers are familiar with Help Portrait and similar efforts, but you can use your talents in other ways as well. I often volunteer to shoot and design for local non-profit organizations. I recently designed a few banners for a local Cub Scout pack for their holiday parade float and shoot images for my local church regularly.

Recently, a student-athlete at the university were I work asked me to help with a poster design for an upcoming mission trip. She needs to raise more than $15,000 to sponsor 11 months of work in 11 countries on her World Race. She really just wanted a decent photo and some text next to it so she'd have something to get peoples' attention. Being a person that's either full speed or stop, I couldn't let it just be a boring image. My opinion was simple: even if people don't like the concept, they won't be able to say that no effort was put into it. And away I ran with the idea.

The concept was to mimic the film Book of Eli. I won't spoil the film if you haven't seen it, but the premiss is that a man has been called by God to travel across the American wasteland (post nuclear war) to fulfill a specific mission. Nesya, the student taking the trip, will do much of the same. She will spend nearly a year visiting impoverished countries and communities and working with a variety of people groups on countless aid projects and in teaching ministries. She'll be living out of a backpack the entire time. Again, if you've seen the film, this was a perfect fit for a theme.

Step one was to conceptualize the final piece and how it would be used. We decided that it would be good to have some business cards with her information to send out in letters and to hand out to people she may happen on by chance. We also wanted to make 11x17 posters to present some of the basic information and encourage viewers to find out more about the work.

The concept was an open desert - were much of the Book of Eli film takes place. I didn't have any good images of the desert, despite living in Arizona for several years so, I resorted to stock images which I purchased, retouched and composited. Here are the two images that we decided on:

Here's another BTS video I shot several weeks ago, but am just now getting to post. This is a look at the setup and shoot for the cover of this year's women's soccer brochure for Faulkner University.

This is perhaps the most minimalistic setup I've ever used for a promotional product piece. It's about as easy as you can get; a Nikon SB-800 with a CTO gel fired remotely on a stand about 45 degrees to camera left.

I used the CTO gel to balance for the setting sun that was already turning orange/gold. I obviously used the sun as the main light and simply added fill from the left with the flash. The flash is set to remote mode and I believe it was set to 50mm zoom with about 1/8th output. I pushed the shutter up to 1/400th and had the ISO at 400 and the aperture parked at f/5.6. I used continuous focus tracking and simply tried to time the shot where I wanted it.

The video doesn't show the cutout process of each player like the football video, but you still get the idea. Feel free to post any comments or questions.

Enjoy!

Here is a behind the scenes look at the 2011 Faulkner University football cover shoot. This year the coaches decided to feature a representative from each class. The shooting order in the video is as follows: Matt Enyart, senior defensive end; Isaac Franklin, freshman safety; Josh Hollingsworth, sophomore quarterback; and Matt Nolan, junior offensive lineman.

This video is posted to show the lighting setup used for each of the shots and then the progression in post for each of the selected images. Here is a basic look at the setup used, though the lights were moved around obviously, depending on the subject orientation.

Since so many people are obviously interested in the iPhone 4s and because Apple is touting the new optics as the "you-can't-believe-it's-on-a-phone camera," I figured why not give it a real world walk around test against an ordinary pocket camera.

As much as people like to push comparisons to the max, I find no need whatsoever to compare the iPhone's camera to anything higher up the ladder than a decent consumer level camera. If you want to see still and video samples comparing it to DSLRs which are dedicated image-making machines with sensors a hundred times larger backed by hardcore processors behind state-of-the-art lenses that total thousands of dollars - look elsewhere.

The iPhone is a phone first and foremost, hence the name. It features a camera. Just keep this in mind. The sensor in the iPhone's camera is tiny. This comparison with a point-and-shoot camera isn't even really all that fair because the sensor in the Canon is larger and again, a part of a dedicated product designed to do nothing but make images.

Keeping this in mind as we dive into this comparison will help make things "fair." In addition, this isn't a comparison to prove that one is better or worse than the other. This isn't a test to see  if the iPhone can "beat" a "real" camera, but rather to see how well the 4s can hold up as a day-to-day photo device. Basically, I wanted to know, is it worth packing the extra camera for normal shooting or can the 4s serve this purpose.

If I'm doing serious shooting, I'm suing my DSLR. For fun, random, Facebook, Twitter pics, a point and shoot is far easier to work with and less cumbersome to carry. If I can get this same, or very similar, functionality in my phone, that's even better. Taking usable images and video on a device that is constantly connected with social networking and virtually every other communication avenue on earth eliminates the middle man - the computer.

So, how does it stack up?

The devices:

The iPhone 4s has an 8 megapixel sensor, a fixed aperture of f/2.4 and fixed focal length lens and no access to manual controls. The shutter is touch screen or volume button controlled and it has an LED flash. This makes it very much an Auto-only device. It also sports full 1080p video with stabilization and has geotagging built in it's files.

The Canon PowerShot SX230 HS is, by comparison, much more feature-laden. It sports a 14x optical zoom lens, larger size 12 megapixel sensor and provides various levels of manual control including white balance, ISO, aperture and shutter speed settings. The lens has a variable aperture of f/3.1-5.9 and a built in stabilizer. The camera is also one of the newer consumer cameras that does have built in GPS, so geotagging is built in here as well. It has a standard pop-up flash and offers mini HDMI output and shoots 1080p video as well.

So, out of the gate, the Canon is heavily favored has more to offer. Remember, this isn't a battle, rather a comparison.

All images on the Canon were shot in auto mode at a comparable focal length to make things as neutral as possible. This made ISO, aperture and white balance camera selected. All images are unaltered right out of the camera. I just cropped them to the same ratio. No flash was used so that both cameras would have full access to rendering the image with the built-in features of the sensor.