Corey Gross Photography: Blog

Second shooting behind the scenes

(Corey Gross Photography) — Mon, 03 Jul 2017 21:30:03 GMT

This Friday I got to second shoot with a good friend and photographer Bri - https://www.facebook.com/brifoto/ alongside some incredible videographers Dan Ludeman - https://www.facebook.com/LudemanProductions/ and his second shooter Alex Gutzmer - https://www.facebook.com/unchartedvisuals/ ****check out their work, they are all crazy talented.

It was such an awesome and fun crew for a gorgeous wedding. I took a handful behind the scene shots and added a few fun candid ones //

Bryan and Morgan's Wedding // Best Man Vision

(Corey Gross Photography) — Mon, 20 Mar 2017 21:09:58 GMT

This December I had the privilege of being the best man in my best friends wedding. I decided to do a blog of the wedding day from the best man perspective for something a little different. Sometimes I had a camera, sometimes one of the groomsmen had a camera (Spencer and JAD mostly), sometimes the photos turned out awesome, sometimes they were out of focus, sometimes they were hilarious, sometimes they were tear jerking, really everything you would expect with this amazing group of people on an incredibly emotionally gorgeous wedding day for Bryan and Morgan. That was a big run on sentence, and with that - enjoy.

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Bryce and Shea Sunrise Engagement

(Corey Gross Photography) — Sat, 05 Nov 2016 16:28:18 GMT

A few weeks back I got to shoot a sunrise engagement session with two of my favorite people

Bryan and Morgan Adventure Engagement

(Corey Gross Photography) — Tue, 19 Jul 2016 19:11:37 GMT

Several weeks back I had the honor to take photos of my best friend and his incredible fiancé. I woke up on a Tuesday morning with a text asking if I could make the trip with them to his family cabin at Roy Lake, just north of Eden, SD (middle of nowhere). It was the only time we could make it work with everyones schedules and we lucked out with the weather. It was very enjoyable shooting in a new location, a fresh perspective is a good one. (for any clients reading this, if you want to travel somewhere a bit different I will always be down!) Here are some photos from the trip, we shot that Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning at sunrise. I also somehow sat in Deer manure, so that is also catalogued in this blog

I somehow sat in deer manure.

Abandoned SD: Searching for the Forgotten

(Corey Gross Photography) — Thu, 12 May 2016 20:38:06 GMT

I had a photo gig in Rapid City in April. I got the chance to traverse the badlands and Custer State Park for a bit on my lonesome. Oddly enough I really enjoy traveling alone. I got to capture some of the immense beauty of the badlands one evening.

However I didn't get to spend that much time in Custer State Park, which is also breathtaking. I woke up on a Monday morning in my simple but elegant room at the Hotel Alex Johnson in downtown Rapid City, grabbed a coffee, and walked the graffiti alley right next to the hotel and then hit the road. About one hour in an urge overcame me to find an abandoned house. I took a random exit and started going east down highway 248. I ran into my first spot with several houses a bit west of Murdo. I always wonder what stories these buildings hold. (You can check out the full abandoned house gallery here - you can also order prints)

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As I wrapped up I felt an urge to make a day out of this. Just take random highway and gravel roads find as many abandoned houses as I could.

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It didn't take long before my next spotting. This house had a particular eeriness with assorted old toys in the yard. It's a strange sensation to take photos at these places in the dead quiet, knowing in a time not that long ago a child was playing in a now decaying yard. I plan on visiting all these locations again in the fall. I want to spend more time at this house.

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I got back on the highway and found myself traversing the vast openness of South Dakota. I looked to the north and saw a few old houses in the distance. I took a gravel road and it led me to yet another eerie spot. While shooting here I could feel a presence with me.. one of the houses seemed to have had someone living in it not that long ago or they still were. The whole area was deserted and unkept, I felt an uneasiness the entire time I was there.

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I skittishly ran back to my car, looking back and waiting for someone to open up those blinds and stare back at me. I hopped on the interstate for a bit and crossed the Missouri river, knowing full well that my daylight was dwindling.

I searched for a bit longer to no avail, and then I ran across the car graveyard.

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I didn't have much time left and I desperately wanted to find one more abandoned location. With the sun setting I hopped on one more old highway. Since the introduction of the interstate I could tell this highway has had little to no attention. On this old and forgotten highway I continued heading east. At one point I spotted a potential house in the distance but couldn't tell if it was abandoned or not. I took out a telephoto lens, took a photo, and zoomed in on my camera's LCD screen to see if it was, in fact, abandoned. To my dismay it wasn't. I had about given up hope until I went by an old driveway, with about 15 minutes of light left I knew I had to hurry. I ran down this old driveway towards some buildings. What I found was breathtaking, eerie, and beautiful all at once.

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This site was eerie, an old dog house where a trusted companion used to sleep

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I had not stepped foot into any of these houses until now. With the sunsetting in the silence of dusk, I went in. Once again I half expected someone or something to come jumping out at me.

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I bid my farewell to the house and the memories it holds. I began my walk back to my car down the old road, looking back a few times to take in the adventure I had just experienced. A day of searching for the forgotten. (You can check out the full abandoned house gallery here - you can also order prints)

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Nikon D750 Review

(Corey Gross Photography) — Wed, 02 Mar 2016 20:51:00 GMT

For my first gear review it seemed fitting to review the camera that persuaded me switch from Canon to Nikon. A lot of people ask me why I switched systems. Canon has developed incredible cameras for a long time, I particularly miss Canon color rendering and their outstanding lenses. However they lack in some departments that are very important to my natural light photography style. The two main reasons I switched to Nikon is that Canon camera sensors do not handle shadow recovery very well (digital noise is quite prevalent when underexposing frames) and the dynamic range always leaves something to be desired. My Canon 6D had much better dynamic range then my Canon 5d Mark iii. However both fall short to the D750 and most Nikon bodies.

**Actual images of the D750 were shot with the Nikon D750 and Sigma 35mm 1.4 ART

The Nikon D750 is a 24 megapixel full frame pro-sumer camera that offers an incredible amount of creative options but also has several noticeable flaws. Almost all of the images on my site have been shot with the D750.

Why I love the D750:

1. The flip out LCD screen is a game changer. Composing and exposing in real time on a flip out screen is huge. I rarely, if ever, expose using metering through my eyepiece. I almost always turn on live view, flip out the LCD screen, and expose accordingly. ***the LCD screen will not change exposure in real time out of the box. You have turn the option on through an LCD screen menu, which is odd.

Being able to see your bokeh and composition in real time is just an overall enjoyable experience. Most of the effects you see in my photos are achieved while using live view. I do however miss my focus sometimes and AF is not as precise. I usually manually focus but still can miss if I don’t zoom in on my subjects prior to taking photos. Which is my fault, not the cameras.

2. The Sensor. The sensor recovers shadows like a champ. The sensor has great dynamic range and good color rendering. You can comfortably shoot at high ISO’s and not experience distracting noise. It’s no Sony, but it’s still great. The sensor will allow you to save some photos where you didn’t have time to probably expose a scene. ***If you majorly overexpose you may struggle getting rid of excessive highlights. It’s much, much better at recovering an image that is underexposed.

Raw Image shot with Nikon D750 and Nikor 58mm 1.4

Edited Image

Raw Image shot with Nikon D750 and Nikor 58mm 1.4

Edited Image

3. The dual SD card slot. You can double write raw files, if you are worried about potential corruption. I’ve never had an SD card corrupt. But if you are using third party SD cards it’s a nice fail safe.

4. Battery life. Battery life rocks. If you have a grip (I don’t) you can shoot a whole wedding without every worrying about your camera dying.

5. It’s reliable. I’ve heard some people say they have had reliability issues with the D750 shutter firing correctly or writing images correctly. I’ve never had a single issue.

6. Autofocus is solid. I honestly am not sure on how many autofocus points it has but it hits it’s target quite often. It also allows for continuous AF tracking on a 3D plane. Meaning it will track a subject as they adjust their depth to you. It works great for me during weddings when a lot of people are moving around and I’m only trying to track one subject.

Shot with Nikon D750 and Nikor 58mm 1.4

7. Good video quality. It actually takes excellent video for a DSLR and can shoot 60fps at 1080p. Once again it’s no sony. But the D750 is made for still photography, so if you occasionally need to shoot some video it will suffice quite well. No noticeable moire and having the flip out LCD screen when shooting video is so, so nice. I shot this for my band with a D750. WATCH VIDEO HERE

Why the D750 isn't the best:

1. Max shutter is only 1/4000, pro cameras are at least 1/8000, thus why this is a pro-sumer camera. Why this limitation exists is beyond me. I did read that it is Nikons attempt to distinguish their pro lineup cameras from the D750. I typically shoot at f 2.0 or lower, so during a wedding in the middle of the day outside I usually have to stop up a bit because I can’t shoot faster then 1/4000.

2. The image buffer. When shooting in burst mode with even the fastest SD card the camera will buffer out pretty quickly. I usually stick with the cL setting and not cH. I can last longer shooting in low speed continuos versus high speed.

3. No live view double exposure. This is where Canon bodies rocked. You can take a photo in live view, and it will allow you to take your next photo in live view and see how your double exposure will turn out. With the D750 you have to take it through the eyepiece and basically guess. I don’t think I’ve ever taken a successful double exposure with the D750. I also do not have an eye for double exposures in general.

4. It isn’t weather sealed. I wouldn’t go out and shoot in the rain with it. This is where the Canon 5d mark iii and L series lenses rock. They are weather sealed, which gives you an extra peace of mind when shooting in rough conditions.

Shot with Nikon D750 and Nikor 20mm 1.8

RECCOMENDATION:

Should you buy it? Are you looking to spend $1,500-$2,000 on a still photography camera body? Then yes, you should. Then sell all of your zoom lenses (except your 70-200). Then buy a 50mm 1.4 or 1.8 lens + other prime lenses. Then have fun.

Find it on BHPhoto, Adorama, Amazon, Ebay, and more.