Where to start!?
I had the extreme pleasure of doing event photography for the OTA Sessions in Sioux Falls on Friday. The OTA sessions are described as:
Creativity and originality of thought are critical to our success as a region, but without action and implementation it's all just idle chitchat. OTA challenges us to bring originality and action together. o + a
The OTA Sessions are a chance for all of us Midwesterners to shatter the perception that creativity and thought leadership in business, marketing, communications and education live solely on the east and west coasts.
I was blown away by the speakers: Sally Hogshead, Ellen McGirt, CC Chapman, Ann Handley, John Winsor, Ricardo Crespo, Rod Arnold, Jeff Slobotsky and Dusty Davidson.
All were very motivating and a pleasure to listen to. Sally Hogshead had me cracking up (while trying to be steady and focus), John motivated the heck out of me and Ellen and Rod moved me immensely. I was torn in some ways as I couldn’t be both focused on the presentations and focused with my camera. I was there to take photographs!
Working with Hugh Weber, the founder of OTA was fantastic. He’s put together a fantastic event and I really identified with his motivations for creating this event.
The venue for the OTA Sessions was the Orpheum Theater in Sioux Falls. What a fantastic place! I was so excited as soon as I got a look at it.
My plans for PJ Anderson Photography this year called for a new camera so that I had a solid backup for the spring/summer weddings. I also wanted to get up to the next level of pro cameras. As great as my workhorse Nikon D300 has been for years, I was more than ready to get up onto the Nikon D700. With the OTA event being held at the Orpheum, I knew I wanted to get the D700 in my hands immediately - to make sure that I could take advantage of the great high ISO results. I wanted to be able to walk away with photos that weren’t overly grainy in the dark light of a theater.
The D700 did NOT let me down. I am very pleased with the quality of the images! This is going to open up even more opportunities at weddings in darker churches. Should allow for some wonderful moody lighting situations!
I’m in the middle of editing/finishing four assignments, but while taking a break – I tossed together 7 or 8 photos in Photoshop that I shot “hand held” in the Orpheum to create an interesting panorama. This photograph is in no way to be considered a “finished” product. If I was going to shoot this in a serious fashion, I would have definitely set this up on a tripod and would have spent some serious time getting the shot down perfectly. I might have even took some time to try an HDR study. BUT, I do think this shows the power of the camera (and the beauty of the theater.) So, just for fun, here you go!
Nikon D700, ISO 2000, f/2.8, 1/60 second – multiple exposures stitched in Photoshop
