Try it before you buy it - Tab McCausland

"Try it before you buy it" is quite possibly my favorite phrase and my favorite thing about renting a lens.  What works for some might not work for you so rent it. Try it out and see how it works with your style.  I recently (borrowed) the Canon 50mm 1.2L from LensProToGo and fell in mad passionate LOVE.  Below you will find some examples of what the lens can do and I shot almost the whole session wide open.  Obviously, I need to buy this lens but until I can afford the $1,500 price tag on it I will keep renting this lovely piece of glass from LensProToGo.

Contest results and a post from a Happy Customer

Hi Folks,

After 2 weeks of submitting, reviewing, judging, viewing ... you get the idea, our little contest is completed. Head on over to our contest page to see the results.

Here is a post that our friends from MKD Photography sent us.

Happy Customer

I’m Kate, half of the husband and wife duo of MKD Photography. We mainly shoot weddings, and I would say that Mike and I are pretty set with gear. We have a huge wish list, I won’t deny that, but for what we do we have an awesome system. I shoot a lot with the 17-55mm 2.8 and occasionally will grab our 50mm 1.4 to get some fun depth of field, or the 60mm macro to shoot the rings . Mike loves to use the 10.5mm fisheye, the 24mm 2.8 and the 70-200mm 2.8. There’s a ton out there that we want, for sure, but I know we can’t buy every lens that we want…heck, I don’t even think I can call up a local camera shop and just “try” (i.e. stand in the store and take pictures of the man behind the counter) a 24-70mm 2.8 right now because they’re sold out everywhere we’ve called….LensProToGo has them, though!

(Shot with the Nikon 24mm Tilt Shift on the D700 at ISO 400, 1/125 at f/3.5)

 But really, if I’m eyeing spending nearly $2k on the 45mm tilt shift lens, do I really want a picture of the man behind the counter? I want to take that lens out of the store. And not just to the parking lot…I want to find a big billboard and put a couple kissing underneath it. I want to hold it, try it on a couple of our different camera bodies. Mike wants to sleep with it on his pillow and drive around with it on his front seat and maybe even shoot some video with it. I want to look at it, feel how heavy I think it is after an hour or so. I want to shoot an event with it and see if it is something I even need…and then when we determine we don’t really need it, but we love it, I still want access to it every once in a while…how sad if renting weren’t an option. For people who haven’t heard about companies like LensProToGo.com, what do they do? Lust? Dream? Splurge? None of those seem like really great options to me.

(Shot with the Nikon 45mm Tilt Shift on a D700 at ISO 200 at 1/160 at f/3)

There are a lot of things photographically that I want to do just for me. Personal projects like shooting a lacrosse game for my sister. As a wedding photographer I really don’t need a 200-400 F4, would I like one? Sure…actually I would like the whole Nikon catalogue in my basement ready and waiting for me…but we don’t have the space (and let’s be honest, we don’t have the money, either)…so we call Paul and say what do you have for long lenses right now? And you know what? He has choices. Do you want the 300, the 400, the 600, the 200-400 zoom? How awesome is that? The other good thing? He wants to know what we’re shooting. Why? Because he’s nosey…no, really, he wants to make sure I’m not getting something I don’t need. So for what seems like pennies in comparison to the overall cost of the lens, I get to use phenomenal equipment that I normally would have just been wishing I had field side.

(Nikon 200-400 F4 on the D90 at ISO 200, 1/800 at f/4)

Sometimes we also get a little bored with the equipment we have. We try to spice it up by switching roles—Mike will take the 17-55 and I’ll take the 70-200, but that doesn’t always do it. So on a weekend that we have a couple fun things lined up we’ll get a few things to get us excited to shoot again—the 85 1.4 always does it for me, and Mike’s lens of choice is definitely the 200 F2. We find for those few events we capture work that to us feels different, it feels exciting, and a little change here and there is always good…so for us, Lensprotogo is that little bump, that little added oomph that we need to get out of the rut of capturing the same thing wedding after wedding.

(Nikon 85mm 1.4 on the D300 at ISO 200, 1/640 at f/2)

(Nikon 200m F2 on the D700 at ISO 200, 1/400 at f/2)

One last bit that really makes me happy--I have a lot of fellow moms who will come and ask me what camera I think they should buy…or they’ll tell me they have a D60 that they just got for their birthday and want to know the best lens. I always tell them that hands down they want a lens that goes to 2.8…and I follow that with the fact that 2.8 lenses tend to be a bit more expensive, but they’re more than worth it. Some of them bawk at me, they are anxious about spending the money, anxious that it is “more than they need,” and are hesitant to just go out there and buy one…I always tell them about LensProToGo. I mean, it's perfect. Who wouldn’t want to test drive a lens for real before they buy it? Thanks Paul, Tony and Jenny for all that you do, we know when we don’t have the equipment to make our vision happen that that’s what you’re there for!

(Nikon 24mm Tilt Shift on the D700 at ISO 200, 1/125 at f/4)

Photo contest!

We have opened up a new section on the blog for contests with our first photo contest. Go there, submit your images and get free rentals! Good luck!

Quick and Easy Beauty Light

Simple Beauty Light

A while back People Magazine published a bunch of photos completely unretouched. But you know what? The celebrities they shot still looked like, well, celebrities. One of the ways the photographers who shot the images were able to accomplish the “retouched” look in camera was by using light to fill in the shadows (that live in the wrinkles) of older subjects.

One simple way to create this effect is with what is traditionally referred to as “beauty light.” It’s quick and easy and can be done with one light and a reflector, or two lights.

The example images for this post are in black and white, because the color doesn’t matter – just look at the shadows.

This first photo was shot with one overhead softbox, as you can see below.

Anna looks OK, but notice all the shadows: under her lips, under her nose, under her neck. Now imagine this same light with a model 20 years older than Anna, say, your grandmother. Not so hot a photo, right?

Now, take a look at this second photo of Anna, and the accompanying lighting setup. I use a Lasolite Trilite, but you could use anything – a tablecloth, a sidewalk, foamcore, heck, even snow works great in the winter.

Now look at the shadows and her eyes – the light is not so harsh and much, much more flattering and smooth.

And here is the view from the model's perspective in case you were wondering:

Questions? Did I lose you after the first paragraph? E-mail me or leave a comment here and I’ll do my best to answer all of the questions. If you want more Doug (and I mean, who doesn’t), you can find me at my site, my blog, and Twitter.

“Shoot on the Sidelines With Scott & Mike” contest

Attention all amateur photographers! Scott Kelby and Mike Olivella have announced a contest that is out of this world.

Watch the video

Now, go to Scott's blog for more details. Good luck!