Nikon Z 7ii

nikon z 7ii

A Nikon Z 7ii with a Nikon Z 50mm 1.8 S lens / photo taken with a Nikon Z 6ii with a Nikon 45mm 2.8 D tilt shift

Hello, Nikon Z 7ii. In an attempt to blog and post more images this is just a post to say that I am back shooting on Nikon! I switched from Nikon dSLRs to Canon mirrorless in the summer of 2019. While I enjoyed mixing things up and shooting with a different system, I don’t feel like I was ever fully comfortable (or maybe compatible?) shooting with Canon. The RF lenses are amazing (I’ll miss the Canon RF 50mm f/1.2) but I was always secretly pining for Nikon — it’s intuitiveness, colors and lenses. I was also disappointed that Adobe Lightroom did not release a camera matching profile for the Canon R6 (they did for the Canon R). Because of this I always struggled getting skin tones just right with the R6, and it was ANNOYING. In the end I decided I prefer Nikon’s raw files anyway. I literally made a pros and cons list for switching from Canon back to Nikon. This isn’t an extensive list of why you should also switch. Many of these are just personal preferences because I shot with Nikon from 2006-2019.

Pros for Switching to Nikon
I prefer Nikon files
The awesome 24mm 1.4 G! (I ended up buying the Nikon Z 24mm 1.8 S)
Won’t really lose money switching
Z 6ii slightly more megapixels than Canon R6
Still have the Nikon tilt shift lens
Top deck display (the little square screen on top)
Prefer Nikon flashes
On button location easily accessible near aperture dial

Cons of switching to Nikon
Pain to switch systems
Multiexposure output is only JPG on Nikon Z 6ii and Z 7ii (why?!)
Tilt screen on R6 is awesome
Might take time adjusting back to Nikon (but maybe not)
Z lenses a little longer in length
Mostly used to shooting Canon at this point
I will miss 1.2 aperture on the 50mm RF

Photography for Annual Report

Here are a few of my favorite photos that Kristi and I took for HCPED’s 2016 annual report. The awesome design, layout, and overlay illustrations are by Farmhouse Graphics. The last two images are spreads she created with the photos. I love how it all came together.

The locations in this post include Sierra Nevada Brewery, Gaia Herbs, GF Linamar, and the French Broad River. We went out on several different days to capture these locations with natural light, usually at sunset. Western North Carolina has some of the most beautiful skies at sunset so we took advantage of this and delivered vibrant photography for the annual report. A few of these photos were also featured in Capital at Play magazine.

All of the images were taken with Nikon. Here is some of the camera gear used for these photos:

Forsyth Park in Savannah, GA

Savannah is a gorgeous city with lots of history and romantic sites to visit. Here is one of the most recognizable landmarks in Savannah, the fountain in the middle of Forsyth Park.

Forsyth Park

Spiderman, Spiderman

One from the archives. Superhero street photography.

Spiderman

© Derek Olson

Memorial Day. Thank you.

Thank you to the men and women who sacrificed their lives for our country.

Mary Alice

This amazing woman turned 100 years old today. Six months ago I took a few portraits of Mary Alice at her home in North Carolina. She has the cutest sense of humor and kept joking about how I was taking too many photos of her. It’s remarkable to ponder all that she has been through and witnessed in 100 years. Happy birthday, Mary Alice!

Portrait