We made a visit to West Wales for a shoot with the lovely Emmi. It was my first real outing with the Nikon ZF and my brand new Tamron Z35-100mm F/2.8 for work. A portrait session is always a testing time for any equipment. You have to worry about so many things constantly, from composition, to camera settings, to depth of field, ISO, lighting, shadows, poses, comfort and so much more. It was a hot day, so we also had to ensure we were all hydrated, and that is so easy to forget when you are busy at work!
As I mentioned, I had my Nikon ZF with the Tamron Z35-100mm F/2.8 and for lighting we had my Godox AD200 (and Godox X2Tn triggers) which as always never fails, especially when shooting into, and over-powering the sun. Editing took place on ON1 Photo Raw for this session, editing the raw files from the day.
High resolution images for a better quality viewing experience can be found here.
I made a couple of different batches of images, the first being the main edits here.
I also made a selection of artistic edits, some of which are here.
It was a brilliant day, and we really enjoyed. Emmi was a fantastic model, and we look forward to working with her again. As for the Tamron Z35-100mm lens… Bloody hell! What a lens it is. It is absolutely stunning. As you know, I recently sold my Viltrox 85mm F/1.8 lens, but I did not miss it at all when I was shooting at 100mm with this lens (even at 85mm it is amazing). At 35mm F/2.8 you obviously don’t get as much bokeh as my Nikkor 35mm F/1.4 lens (based on working distance, as we all know that you can get more bokeh by getting closer), but it is still more than enough, and it is beautiful.
It has been a great year so far when it comes to people photography, and it will only get better. Stay tuned for much more, because there is a lot more to come!
Images can be seen full size with all EXIF data here.
My name is Mark G Adams and I run Photography By Mark G Adams. I am a professional photographer from South Wales, shooting weddings, events and portraits as well as running meets and workshops. For fun I like to shoot landscapes, wildlife and occasionally do street photography. Enjoy my website as I share my knowledge learned over decades of working and having fun in photography – This Is My Personal Website
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Nikon Recipes for the Z system can be found here.
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Thank you Mark, Absolutely flawless … stunning work! I wonder how would it compare to Nikon’s Z 24-120 f4, I was going to get it, but now looking at this. Tamron Z 35-100mm f2.8 looks very very interesting.
I’ve sold all my F/4 lenses, including the little brother of the Z24-120, the Z24-70. The Tamron is leagues ahead. It has a 3D pop that you just don’t see very often these days, and the bokeh is soooo nice. Plus of course it’s sharp corner to corner. Honestly, it has blown me away in every situation I’ve thrown at it.
Thank you Sergei for your very kind words. They mean a lot to me.
Hi Mark. I spent most of today at the Tall Ships Races here in Antwerp. It was my first shoot of the event, nothing spectacular yet, mostly the arrival of the sailing ships, but standing there watching these magnificent vessels sailing along the Scheldt was an experience in itself. Sometimes it’s not about coming home with dozens of great photos, but simply about being there and enjoying the atmosphere.
Anyway, I really enjoyed this series. The image against the old turquoise door especially made me stop and think. Interestingly, I found myself wondering not about the lens, but about the aperture. In that particular scene the door feels so full of character that, had I been there, I think I’d have tried to keep almost everything sharp, the model, the weathered wood, the old lock and even the stone steps. For me, the location tells just as much of the story as the person.
That’s probably one of the biggest differences between our photographic approaches. You often isolate your subject from the surroundings, while I’m usually trying to make the surroundings part of the subject. Neither approach is better or worse; they’re simply different ways of seeing the same scene. That’s one of the things I enjoy about photography, two photographers can stand in exactly the same place and come away with completely different images, both equally valid.
Thanks Marc, yes, I shot plenty at other apertures, but these are the ones I shared. When working with models, it’s obviously very much about them, that is what they need for their career and paid work etc. The client sets the conditions, and those conditions mean they get noticed more
When I’m on holidays or shooting family somewhere I’m visiting (basically not working) then of course priority changes as I’m not getting paid and I want to capture where we have been etc so I’ll often shoot at F/8, F/11 etc.
Professional work is very different to casual work, and capturing your own memories is very different to creating for a client.
And those tall ships look amazing! I’ve stopped taking a camera to many things like that so I can just absorb the moment too… The wife tells me I’m not in work all the time 🤣
Thanks Marc.