Overview

Over the holidays, my neighbor asked me if I would shoot the opening of a very special Christmas gift.  Her sister-in-law was pregnant, and my neighbor had arranged to reveal the baby’s gender by having her sister-in-law pop a confetti-filled balloon that was wrapped in a Christmas present.

So, on Christmas morning, I went next door with my Nikon D500 DSLR, my new NIKKOR 105mm f/1.4E prime lens, and a Nikon AF SB-5000 Speedlight mounted on a my Fotodiox 50cm (20in) Quick-Collapse Flash Softbox.

Lessons Learned

1.  The 105mm Focal Length is Too Much for That Space

When I was setting up for the shoot, I quickly discovered that the reach of the 105mm prime lens was too much for the space available.  I had to get at the far end of the foyer to get a good shot of people in the living room.  Although I really like the larger aperture of the 105mm f/1.4, a 24-70mm f/2.8 would have probably been optimal for that space and that scene.

2.  The Bokeh of the 105mm f/1.4 is Super

The bokeh of the 105mm f/1.4 is something else.  The Christmas tree lights in the background provided perfect point light sources, and having the subject close to the camera forced the Christmas lights well outside the focal range.

3.  The Nikon AF SB-5000 Speedlight Needs Time to Recharge

At the flash intensity I was using, I found that my Nikon AF SB-5000 Speedlight can only fire off a few flashes at 0.1 second intervals before it has to recharge its capacitor.  In the future, if I want to get a rapid sequence of shots with flash, I’ll need to either only take short bursts of a few exposures each, or set the speed on the D500 to no more than 2 frames/second.