The Lost and Found Saloon

The Lost and Found Saloon is a neat little place on 36th ST, in the design district, a couple blocks west of the Target shopping center in downtown Miami. It has great food, friendly servers, and an interesting atmosphere. Its also open until 3am, which is perfect for me. Many times I'll be working late in Miami and I'll want some reasonably healthy food. My friend Olivia currently works there so if you see her, tell her I said hello.

In case you're wondering... yes, I've been using my fisheye lens a lot lately. The thing is, I keep finding myself in situations where the fisheye is going to give me the best shot. This restaurant is small but the bar is fairly long and the entire wall behind it is interesting. Even with my 12-24mm lens, I never would have fit the entire bar in a single shot. I used a shutter speed of 2 full seconds so my tripod came in handy.

Nikon D7000 with Nikon 10.5mm f/2.8 fisheye lens. Exposure: f/4 2.0s ISO 200.

Nikon D800 - What's in the Box - Time Lapse

Here's a little time lapse animation I made when I unpacked my brand new Nikon D800. I used a Nikon D7000 with a Nikkor 50mm f/2.0 lens. In hindsight, I should have used a little greater depth of field but whatever, I was in a hurry. People keep telling me, "Wow, that must have taken forever!" It actually didn't take that long. I started shooting around midnight and finished at 1:30am. I shot a total of 812 images. There was hardly any editing to do and I just added the music track. Simple.

I have to say that I've seen way too many videos on YouTube where a person is unpacking their new camera and rambling on and on about it. I certainly was very excited when my D800 arrived but I wanted to do something a little more fun. I also didn't want to take forever making the video. I hope you enjoy it.

The music is Fantasie Impromptu by Frédéric Chopin, one of my favorite piano pieces.

Nikon D7000 with a Nikkor 50mm f/2.0 manual focus lens. Exposure: f/4.0 1/15 ISO 800.

Steve Aoki @ Club Cinema 2012

Tonight I went to Club Cinema in Pompano Beach, FL and filmed DJ Steve Aoki jumping from the second level balcony into an inflatable kiddie pool held up by the crowd!! This was the second time I've done video of Steve Aoki and he always puts on a good show. Last time, I didn't get any good footage of his balcony jump because I was behind the stage. This time I positioned myself on the opposite balcony so I could have a good view of the action. It still wasn't easy. The club was so packed that I sandwiched between people that were constantly jumping up and down and pushing against the railings. I have no idea how I managed to hold the camera as steady as I did.

Nikon D7000 camera with Nikkor 18-105mm f/3.5-5.6G DX lens. ISO 1600. Zoom Digital Recorder.

Fort Lauderdale Beach Fisheye View

It was a long day and night. I photographed two back to back events, starting at 5:30pm Saturday, and ending at 5:00am Sunday morning. I shot enough pictures to fill two 16GB cards. I stopped to take this shot on my way home. I'm on A1A, about a half mile north of Sunrise Blvd. in Fort Lauderdale. Its 6:30am. Goodnight.

Nikon D7000 with Nikkor 10.5mm f/2.8 fisheye lens. Exposure: f/4 1/125 ISO 200.

Gelato at Pan'e Dolci, Las Olas Blvd.

Gelato, made fresh at Pan'e Dolci Italian Bakery 613 E Las Olas Blvd. Ft. Lauderdale, FL. I was just having some fun, wandering around with my camera and fisheye lens. There is hardly any grain in this image, even though I was shooting at ISO 1600. I held the camera right up against the glass of the gelato case.

Nikon D7000 with Nikkor 10.5mm f/2.8 fisheye lens. Exposure: f/4 1/500 ISO 1600.

Ill Nocturnal and Ill Ra... the REAL Angry Birds?

My friend Ill Nocturnal called me this afternoon and asked if I could meet her at a friend's house to shoot some photos. Here's one of the images from that shoot. It should be obvious but I'm going to say it anyway... don't try this at home!! Ill Nocturnal and Ill Ra are part of the Illuminautians. Check out their web site, www.illuminautians.com.

Nikon D7000 with Nikkor 105mm f/2.5 manual focus lens. Exposure: f/5.6 1/15 ISO 400. Remote strobe.

Stuffed Animal Fluffies by Tikidoll

Here's my friend Tikidoll Sakura wearing her custom made, stuffed animal fluffies. She makes all kinds of crazy clothes for gogo dancing and EDM events. We did this shoot in downtown Miami, near Biscayne Boulevard. If you'd like to learn more about Tikidoll and her clothing, check out her page.

Nikon D7000 with Nikkor 105mm f/2.5 manual focus lens. Exposure: f/8 1/250 ISO 125. Remote strobe.

"Miami Drive" Time Lapse Music Video

Tonight I decided to make a music video. I was inspired by Ajapai's track, Incoming (Taku Remix) and thought it would be perfect for time lapse. You can purchase the music track here.

I shot the "intro" part of the video with a Nikon D7000 and several manual focus lenses. I shot it all at f/2.8, ISO 1600. If you look closely and pause the video in the right spot, you can see my custom camera mount I installed in my 2012 Scion xD. Yes, its a slightly modified tripod. I tried a number of different ways to mount a camera but mounting a DSLR and having it remain in position while driving around, over speed bumbs, etc., was a bit of a challenge. Filming the intro was fairly straightforward. I already had a list of shots that I wanted. I waited until the parking lot was empty, and I positioned the car exactly where I wanted it. I shot 3 times as much footage as I needed and I must have at least a dozen clips of myself getting into my car. In the end, I didn't use all of the shots from my original list. They just didn't fit with the flow of the music. Maybe I'll include these "deleted scenes" on the special edition DVD, lol.

I used a Nikon D90 for the time lapse. The moon was out and there were just enough clouds in the sky to make it interesting. I also thought Saturday night would be the best time to drive around South Beach. I connected the D90, filled up at a gas station, and started the time lapse controller. I had already figured out my route and for the next couple of hours, I just drove around and listened to my camera click every few seconds. My camera took more than 4700 pictures before I ended up back at my house. The video ends just as I'm getting back on I-95 to return home but I wanted more footage than I needed so I could play around with stretching parts of the time lapse to match some of the breaks in the track.

If you like this video, please share it on your page and consider buying the track from Ajapai. Do you need a time lapse film? Contact me at www.Design215.com.

Equipment used for the video:
- Nikon D7000 camera
- Nikon D90 camera
- Nikon AF DX 10.5mm f/2.8 fisheye lens
- Nikkor 24mm f/2.8 manual focus lens
- Nikon AF-S DX Nikkor 35mm f/1.8 lens
- Nikkor 105mm f/2.5 manual focus lens
- Manfrotto 3021BN tripod
- custom Manfrotto camera mount for 2012 Scion xD
- custom time lapse controller
- modified Nikon EH-5a power supply
- 2012 Scion xD, 5 speed manual, TRD suspension

Route:
1. I-95 South to Miami / 395 East.
2. Right on Alton Road.
3. Left on S Point Drive.
4. Left on Ocean Drive.
5. Left on 5th Street.
6. Right on Collins Ave.
7. Left on Lincoln Road.
8. Left on Washington Ave.
9. Right on 2nd St.
10. Right on Alton Rd.
11. Exit to I-195 West.
12. Left on Biscayne Blvd.
13. Right on SE 2nd St.
14. Left on Brickell Ave.
15. U-Turn on Brickell Ave at 14th Terr.
16. Right on Biscayne Blvd.
17. Left on 82nd St.
18. Right on I-95 North ramp