This past week I had an opportunity to use my new SD1 Merrill Digital SLR in a few sessions. I chose to use studio lighting instead of my normal natural light and created the following images with Sigma’s APO 50-150mm F2.8 EX DC OS HSM lens. I chose this lens because I love the ability to change my perspective without having to move around too much especially when photographing young subjects.
I also decided to hand hold my camera as a supposed to using a tripod. I like the freedom of being able to move in any direction in a moment’s notice. What amazed me is how well the SD1 fit into my hands and how light it was. That means a lot to someone like me who is not as young as I used to be. It feels very natural in my hands and then add a long lens and I can still hand hold it without any lens shake.
With my subject in place, my focal point was those gorgeous blue eyes of little Zoe. Although I try to plan out each image in advance, when photographing a two year old, it is nearly impossible. You never know for sure what they’ll do. Luckily for me, Zoe was in a great mood and willing to sit still long enough for me to capture these fun images of her.
Choosing to photograph tethered to see a larger view of my images after each shot to check Zoe’s expression, I was amazed at how sharp my image was. It is incredible that the SD1 produces an image size of 46 megapixels. All in all, it was a great session.

Using a Pro Photo Lighting kit, I set the camera mode to manual, ISO: 100 | Shutter speed: 1/125sec | Aperture: F/9.0. ©2013 Judy Host

Using a Pro Photo Lighting kit, I set the camera mode to manual, ISO: 100 | Shutter speed: 1/125sec | Aperture: F/9.0. ©2013 Judy Host
The following images were also photographed using the SD1 and were processed with the new dedicated monochrome processor for raw files in Sigma’s Pro Photo 5.5 Software.
I added a classical soft focus filter from NIK software, a plug-in to PhotoShop CS6 on this image of Lindsey.











