Boise Wedding Photography by Nate Perkes focuses bringing a fresh, modern approach to capturing your day.
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It’s been a while since I’ve done a before and after post, so I thought now was about time. First of all, it is my goal to get it right in camera as close as possible. I hate it when I hear people say, “Oh I’ll fix that in Photoshop” or “After I edit that…
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First things first. I’m no newborn photography expert. Not even close. In fact, before Jace, I had never done any sort of baby photos. About a month before Jace was born, I decided I definitely wanted to try to do some baby photography. I had heard the best time is between four and fourteen days…
I’m totally in love with the floor! I’ve been struggling about what to do about that, and it never even crossed my mind to just go buy a little of it to just lay down. Thank you so much for posting this! 
p.s. my backdrops are fabric too
Just stumbled upon this–thanks for sharing your tips! My own little one is due any time now, and I’m completely inexperienced in photographing newborns. I’ve been looking for something like this to show me how to set up a background. I’m bookmarking this post.
(In New Hampshire right now. This blog post was supposed to go up yesterday while on my flight form Boise to NH, but due to the worst flight I’ve ever had (more on this tomorrow…all my own fault), I was literally unable to post. Check back tomorrow for the story and photo of the week.)…
Nice post, I now have something on my xmas list! I shoot mostly with the 50mm and I have a 70-300 but I'm loving the bokeh your getting! I think the last one was shot with the 50… am I right?
Love this post! These are the two lenses I shoot with. I have others, but these two go with me everywhere!
This is a post I've been needing and the photos, especially the last, are gorgeous.
I think the photo of the bride on the beach was shot with a 50.
Great post Nate. I love the 70-200 myself. One of my favorite lenses is the 105 2.8 Micro. Very sharp lens.
Nice post Nate, love your work and it's great to see how you are developing as a photographer. Keep up the good work.
John
Very nice post! I'm a 200 man I guess, for the most part the 200's are my favorite shots, The 70-200 is on my Christmas list but not sure what year!
oh, i could just hug you. i love this post. almost in every case i liked both and would want to mix the two in a shoot. i currently have a 35 1.8, 50 1.8 and 85 1.8 and and 18-70 that is great because of it's versatility on the fly and the images are pretty decent.
i'm afraid of the fast 70-200 because of the weight tho i'm tempted. but i'm also a 51 year old woman and the weight is a factor. still pondering the possibilities. Ü
HI Nate, Great job at explaining and showing examples of the comparison. The biggest take away for me, is that there is not one magic lens and you know how to get a completely different look by simply changing lens and move your feet. I personally shoot my 70-200 for all my people and baby shoots. Even indoors on white seamless it gives me distance and versitility without invading that all important personal space comfort zone.
Great post, keep up the fabulous work!
Nice post Nate. Two more parts of the equation for you to ponder:
Sensor size.
Subject to background distance.
And the last shot looks like the 70-200 @ about 70
Hi Everyone! Thanks so much for your comments. I'm glad you enjoyed the post. The shot is actually taken with a 50mm @1.4.
this post is awesome. i think im going to go through my own photos and compare, as i do usually use both lenses…ive just never really thought about looking at them side by side.
Hi Nate, Great post! I think the last one is shot with a 50mm.
For portrets I love the look with the 200mm, I to love what that does with backgrounds.
My favorite portret lens is the 135mm 2.0, if you can, you should try it sometime.
grtz from the Netherlands
Thanks for a great post! I'm a visual learner and that was so helpful. I just set my 70-200 aside to lighten my travel load, I think I'll add it back in.
16-35 all the way 
Thanks for doing the comparison. I used to always shoot with my 50 when I first purchased it and now I rarely use it. I do however appreciate your 50mm examples a little mmore than some of the 200mm it’s always nice to see why one would prefer one of the other and it is definitely a case by case basis. Thanks again!
Wow Nate excellent post! THANK YOU sooo much for this, I have never truly seen the “compress” effect of a long lens, you rock! Thanks
Cool post man, I quite enjoy shooting portraits at 200mm. Just love the lens compression.
Before I read any comments, I am going to say that last shot was with a 50mm! I use the 50mm 1.2 95% of the time. I only use the 70-200 for the ceremony and when I am 2nd shooting. It’s so heavy to carry around to a lifestyle session that it always gets left behind. I spent so much money on it and don’t use it like I should. After this post I am really going to bring it out more often and think of it as toning up my arms!!! Thanks for the great post! You have just inspired me to invest more in my investment! Hugs!
Fantastic post, I guessed the last image at 50mm but not 1.4. I love the 3 dimensional aspect, I need to shoot 1.4 more. Just started using sigma 70-200 and online the results. Cheers for sharing
[...] 50mm vs 200mm lens : side by side! – What an amazingly interesting blog post – fell in looove with it! [...]
AMAZING POST! Love it, thank you thank you thank you!
Awesome post! It’s so great to see side-by-side comparisons instead of just reading a review of the two lenses. Thanks for taking the time to share this with us so we can all learn from you
Great blog post Nate….I love both of those lenses two, for each of their special attributes.
I’m going to say 50mm, for the last image…the background isn’t compressed enough to be from the 70-200mm
Superb post. There’s also a big difference in the way people connect to the camera depending on whether you’re 10 feet away or 30 feet away. People relax more if you’re a bit further away (they know they can whisper to each other without you hearing!). I love the 70-200. I’ve been told the 135mm is THE lens so I’ll be trying this out soon!
Thank you thank you! I’ve searched all over for a good comparison!
Great post.
A few weeks ago, I did a gear post that you can see here. In this post I talked about shooting in Kelvin White Balance and received a few questions about how this works. So first off, this is the way that I shoot, and isn’t necessarily the perfect solution for everyone. I know tons…
Haha.. I wish I came up with that quote.. It is in fact Becker who I heard say that.. but its so true!!
Great post Nate..
Thanks for sharing
Sachin
Amazing post, and so informational, especially for me = novice photographer. I loved how simply, but thoroughly you explained everything. Thanks so much.
Thank you for explaining this so simply. I have seen that WB option but never used it. I will definitely be experimenting with it now that I understand it better.
Thank you so much for explaining that!!! Can't wait to try it!! I have been practicing manual for about two weeks on my D300s and I get ALOT of blue(WB AUTO)!!!! I will give Kelvin a shot!! Have a great weekend!!!
So first time commenter…long time blog stalker! haha. Thank you for posting this. I am going to try this out for sure. I think I'll be switching to Kelvin White Balance!. Now that the other technical aspects of shooting in Manual are second nature to me, I can concentrate on getting the white balance right. Thank you, Nate!
Thanks for useful information regarding Kelvin setting for WB – however i’m starting to wonder how did you manage to change the kelvin setting quickly where you have no time to check correct balance especially at wedding day?
This is fabulous! Thanks Nick for the tip!! I definitely need to give this a try. I shoot on AWB and with the Canon 5D Mark II all of my pictures are more on the cool side. Now if I could only remember how Trevor Dayley showed me to view it in video mode so you can see it in full action before you even take the shot that would be fab!
Did I say Nick??? I totally meant Nate!! Sorry! How embarrassing!
My second shooter and I were just obsessing about the white balance issue at a wedding yesterday! My Nikon D700 seems to lean toward green, both with and without flash. I’m not entirely sure this will cure that (I need to spend some quality time with my manual) but I don’t doubt this will make a huge difference! Just having this new knowledge gives me power! thanks!
Hi!
Was searching for info on Kelvin Temp today and found several articles. I get what you are saying and am actually, just getting ready to head out to the museum to do a shoot with my daughter and her friend… Want to try the Kelvin WB today!
My question is this. Here is another link that also describes Kelvin WB but says almost the exact opposite: that the lower numbers (1,000K) are warmer and the higher (10,000K) are cooler. He has a chart that visually shows how the scale goes. I am pretty sure I am mistaking something here, so if you wouldn’t mind taking a peek at this site and then, helping me to understand, I’d appreciate it. Thanks so much!
Your article is really great and I love how you showed it visually with the images. Just want to make sure I understand this completely
Thanks!
http://thediscerningphotographer.com/2009/08/16/kelvin-temperature-in-photography/
Amy
Hi Amy! That’s a really great question. So I just think it’s two different ways of looking at it. This is how I see it (and it’s by no way scientific). If the scene is very warm, i.e. candle light, then you’ll need a cooler temperature to balance it. If the scene is very cool, then you’ll need a warmer temperature to balance it. For example, on a cloudy day, or after the sun sets, light is often VERY cool (bluish). So because the scene is so cool, you’ll want to use a warmer Kelvin setting. So it depends on if you’re talking about the scene being cool vs warm, or if you’re talking about the white balance being cool vs warm. My brain doesn’t think that fast, so I just think of it this way. No matter what the scene looks like, if I need to make it warmer, I dial up the Kelvin. If I need to make it cooler, I dial it down. : )
Today I was finishing up my edits for Carlo and Amy Jo, when I came across these two photos, both almost the same, except one was shot at f/7.1 and the other was shot at f/1.4. We had just shot a few photos of her beautiful ring, which is why I had it set at…
Yes, bokeh is absolutely much better. But at f7.1 it's quite a bit sharper than f1.4: look at her face, his hair, his shirt – but most importantly, her ring.
Too true, 1.4 is great but 1.2 is just sooo unreal. Nice work and well done
Oh yes, the 1.2 is "un real", and I do love my 1.4…. But in the end they are all just tools. Oh, and the "soft ring" at 1.4? I think the photo is of the bride, not the ring. I think you had already shot the ring, right?
crissie - I always love before and afters!
Borajemeprime - Hello, definitely capable Picture. Hope, will catch a glimpse of more! Thanks
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