Christy & Terry Wedding Day | Hands-on experience with the Sony A7R II

NOTE: I am not a professional photographer and my opinions may not match with your's nor am I sponsored or paid by any manufacturers or products. 

I had the privilege to photograph a wedding for Terry, one of my wife's friends, and his new lovely bride, Christie.  The two planned to be wed at the NY City Clerk's Office, and were not looking for anything fancy or expensive. Terry had asked me to help capture the moments of their day and really wanted some simple portraits. Now, I classify myself more as a working videographer and an amateur photographer. I can only apply to what I've read, seen, and heard from other photographers I've worked with in the past. 

I told myself, "This would be a great chance to use something I've always wanted...". And that was the Sony A7R II. I own a Sony A7S for my video work and it's wonderful, but have always wanted to the mk II versions of their R and S lines. I've used the Sony A7S for some travel photography paired with the 24-70mm f/4 and it works okay. Not something ideal for a wedding day. I had my mind set on trying out the A7R II, but with what lens? After some consideration and availability of rentals fromUnique Photo (much thanks to them), I settled for a Canon 35mm f/1.4 II for my own 5DmkIII and the Zeiss Batis 85mm E-Mount (the Sony G Master was unavailable). 

The slideshow is a mix of the Canon and Sony images and I will let the results speak for themselves. Here are some quick notes I do have about the 35mm f/1.4 II and the Sony A7R II with Batis 85mm.

• Canon color post production is the best to work with and give the best results. The Sony A7R II had a greenish hue and not as vibrant as the Canon.
• The Sony A7R II autofocus system is a thing of beauty. 399 Phase Detect AF points is something to be reckoned with.
• The Eye Focus system is incredible and guarantees sharp images for portraits. 
• Continuous AF is excellent while tracking subjects, but don't think it will hold in sports photography. 
• Built in-stabilization was excellent especially for a medium focal length like 85mm.
• You must be predictive and one step ahead when using the Sony A7R II viewfinder. The VF is very sharp, but the writing speed on the camera halts the view and can lead to possible missed moments.
• The Zeiss Batis is a powerful lens and produces some wonderful bokeh and retains sharpness.
• A combo of a 35mm and an 85mm lens are great focal lengths for a wedding day.
• Why don't I own an 85mm lens? 

Overall, the Sony A7R II is a great camera and something I hope to own in the future. While it may not be the better video camera, that is left to be said. The autofocus system with built in 4k and the ability to crop in your focal length natively (the A7S II cannot do that in 4k). I like to practice photography once in a while. While the A7R II 42mp files can be overkill, I think the A7S II 12mp is a bit too small for my taste. The Sony A7R II is a great hybrid for photo and video!

Amanda & Mike Engagement Photos

It was a great honor and pleasure to be with two great friends and amazing people for a warm and fun engagement session. We started and finished our day at Rutgers Gardens in Piscataway, NJ. If you haven't visited, what are you waiting for!??!  I've known Mike and Amanda for almost eight years and can't wait for their upcoming wedding. These guys are very honest to everyone they know and perhaps the funniest people I know. I can't wait for these two to tie the knot!

Congrats to Mike and Amanda!

Kelly & Matt Engagement Photos

Here's a funny story of how I met Matt. In college, my friends and I were hosting a house party, and Matt with his twin brother, Alex, approached our steps asking if they could party. I was standing by the door with a Mets t-shirt, and one of them said, "Go Mets!". I nodded my head and said they could come in. And that's the start of a friendship to this day.

It was a pleasure to spend a windy and chilly day on the Point Pleasant boardwalk with these two love birds. I am still early in my engagement photos experience and couldn't thank Matt and Kelly enough for giving me the chance for photographing them. You have to love the simple and chill Matt and the smart and headstrong Kelly. 

Congrats to you guys!

Jamaica Timelapse

I've made a few time lapses in my early experience, but always wanted to set up at an exotic location. Having the opportunity to travel to Montego Bay for vacation, I couldn't leave behind my camera. On my last day in Jamaica, I finally told myself to wakeup and be ready for 5:45am for a 6:05am sunrise. The only problem is that my alarm clock never went off. With whatever time I had left, I arrived at my location at 6am and slowly saw the sun rise as I was setting the camera. In a rush, I started on a setting of 250 shutter with f/9.0 and 100 iso. The goal was to salvage and capture whatever I could. Eventually, I was not happy with the settings and changed to an 800 shutter with a f/7.1. 

The result came out okay for me and was the result of over 500 photos with intervals of five seconds between snaps over one hour. 

M3 Crew | Behind The Scenes | Nina & Khaled's Same Day Edit

PHOTO: JR PENA PHOTOGRAPHY

I wrote a blog post for M3 Crew : Media, Motion, Music LLC with a behind the scenes collection of Nina and Khaled's wedding. Same Day Edits are the most challenging, but most rewarding gifts you can give to a couple. While one could be running around directing, shooting, and editing on a tight deadline, the moment you see the couple and guests show their joy and shed a tear, that is the most rewarding part of the day. To read more about it, click on this link here.