Carpatair Fokker F.28 Mk. 0100 (Fokker 100) YR-FKB (msn 11369) BLQ, originally uploaded by Airliners Gallery.

Carpatair (Timisoara) will add three 72-seat Fokker F.28 Mk. 0070s (Fokker 70s). The first (YR-KMA) will be delivered in December with second in February 2010 and the third the following month. The new type will join the current fleet of SAAB 2000s and the pictured Fokker F.28 Mk. 0100s.

Website with a press release and photo:

www.carpatair.com/

Copyright Photo: Lucio Alfieri.

Please click on photo or link below for full view, information, prints for sale and other photos:

http://airlinersgallery.com/2/267a3b5/#/gallery/carpatair/carpatair-f-28-mk-0100-yr-fkb-06-grd-blq-la-lr-904216/

Nikon D3s & 70-200 f2.8 VRII Review!

Well this has to be the few reviews that i have seen with the Nikon D3s and Nikon 70-200 f2.8 VRII at the sametime. Webshooter.Tv has some nice samples between D3, D3s, 70-200 f2.8 VR, and 70-200 f2.8 VRII. You can see a straight comparison how much of a difference the new body and lens can make! If you don’t believe me see for yourself after the jump. Source:[Webshooter.tv/Nikonrumors]

The absence of vignetting around the corners of the frame is the most noticeable difference I note on the VRII. Vignette control was set to LOW on the D3S just as it was on my usual D3 + 70-200 VR combo and I saw no vignette at f/2.8 or 3.2. While I didn’t have a chance to test D3S with VR at the three weddings that I shot (carrying one 70-200 is heavy enough), a later controlled test proved that the disappearance of vignette has nothing to with D3S or its firmware but purely by the VR II’s optical brilliance. You will see that when I couple the VR with D3 or D3S, the vignette reappears.

As you can see from the image above that the new Nikon D3s and Nikon 70-200 f2.8 VRII seems to be a clear winner!

Click HERE to the complete review!

Canon 100mm Macro f2.8L Review!



What seems to be ages Canon’s 100mm Macro never was a L-series lens. It has all the right formula to be one…Fast, sharp, and image quality! In 2009 Canon final came out with the L-series version with the new hybrid IS. The good people over at DPreview have come out with there in depth review.

Canon makes some quite specific claims for the effectiveness of its new IS system, and it’s worth looking at these in detail. The stabilizer is supposed to give a 4 stop advantage at longer focus distances, dropping to 3 stops at 0.5x magnification and 2 stops at full 1x magnification. The first of these specs is pretty much par for the course for Canon’s current IS lenses, but even with the Hybrid system it’s clear that the level of stabilization at close distances is expected to be relatively low (this despite Canon’s publicity material claiming that it ‘enables photographers to capture stunning close-up shots without the need for a tripod’). So the question potential buyers will surely be asking is whether the blend of features offered by the new lens is sufficiently compelling to justify buying it over the older, but well-regarded non-stabilized 100mm macro. – DPreview
Complete review after the jump!





Click image above to full review!

Air France-TAT Fokker F.28 Mk. 1000 F-GBBR (msn 11051) ORY , originally uploaded by Airliners Gallery.

Copyright Photo: Christian Volpati.

Please click on photo or link below for full view, information and other photos:

http://airlinersgallery.com/2/24f1c45/#/gallery/air-france/air-france-tat-f-28-mk-1000-f-gbbr-74-grd-ory-cv-lr-903888/

Air France-TAT Fokker F.28 Mk. 1000 F-BUTE (msn 11031) ORY, originally uploaded by Airliners Gallery.

Copyright Photo: Christian Volpati.

Please click on photo or link below for full view, information and other photos:

http://airlinersgallery.com/2/24f18de/#/gallery/air-france/air-france-tat-f-28-mk-1000-f-bute-74-grd-ory-cv-lr-903887/

Mexicana Click (Click Mexicana)

Copyright Photo: Arturo Zapata. XA-MRB is pictured at the Mexico City hub.

(Mexico City) in August introduced this special color scheme promoting Office Depot for the going back to school season.

Copyright Photo: Michael B. Ing. Skywest's Fokker F.28 Mk. 0100 (Fokker 100) VH-FNJ (msn 11489) climbs beautifully at Denpasar in the 2003 colors..

Skywest Airlines (Australia) (Perth) is adding another Fokker F.28 Mk. 0100 (Fokker 100) bringing the fleet to 16 aircraft (nine F100s and seven Fokker F.27 Mk. 050s). The company is also considering an order for four Airbus A320s.

Press release:

www.skywest.com.au/home.asp?documentid=438

Contact Air’s (Stuttgart) Fokker F.28 Mk. 0100 (Fokker 100) D-AFKE (msn 11505) made an emergency landing at Stuttgart this morning due to landing gear problems. The passengers and crew escaped using the emergency chutes. The incident made headlines in Germany because one of the passengers on board was the chairman of Germany’s Social Democratic Party headed to Stuttgart to make a speech.

For dramatic pictures please see this news link:

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1213401/Pictured-Passenger-jet-faulty-landing-gear-hits-runway-covered-protective-foam-layer.html?ITO=1490

It was with much pleasure that I 2nd shot for the first time with Vrai Photography.

A high end studio based in the Chicago area, Vrai Photography is named for the French word Vrai: Meaning “True”, or “Honest”

Thanks to my sister and her fiance for help with the networking and helping me get the opportunity to work with Vrai.

The wedding was gorgeous and I totally had fun with it!

Let me know what you guys think =D

Marc

Has it really been 10 years already since I first met you two?

I first met Gan & Patrin both before they even started dating each other.  Gan in 1999, and Patrin a few years later; we were all in college at UIC during the time.

This was roughly the first conversation I had with Patrin:

Patrin: ” Call me Putt.”

Me:  “…”

Patrin:  “Yes.  The Golf term.”

And I’ve been calling her Putt since. =P

They started dating in 2003, and this past November in 2008 Gan proposed to Putt at the River Walk by AMC River East by the Chicago River.  And before Putt left for Medical school IN GRENADA (How cool is that!?!?), she wanted me to photograph her and Gan together =D

What makes everything so much more worth it is how Putt has seen my photography evolve – from a random idea I had in my head, photographing birds outside my window with my FM10 + 70-300mm combo on Walgreens Kodak film:

To where I am now; photographing her engagement with Gan:

And my personal favorite:

Many Many Congratulations to you guys!!!

I had too much fun on this shoot with Paul and Linda!!!!

The first Day & Night shoot I’ve ever done, I had thought of this shoot before and had offered it to previous couples, but Paul and Linda were the first couple willing to do it. I knew for sure then that this shoot was a thing meant to be =D

However to be honest, I was somewhat apprehensive with this shoot at first.

I know that being a wedding photographer, one is supposed to be naturally inclined to the social side of the scale, but I had never spent and entire day with a client up until now…What lay in store for me? Would Linda and Paul become bored to death of my type of photography? Would the images become lackluster and repetitive? Would Linda and Paul rebel??? Would they fire me and simply just “Decide to just go with video.”????

I know I’m getting out of hand, but these were serious thoughts that I was having on my way to their place!

The images thankfully turned out to be incredible! I ended up having so much fun with them and I totally wish I could have more clients come my way with personalities like theirs! I totally can’t wait to photograph your wedding next year guys and look forward to hanging out with you guys in the future =)

Please click on the small image for the slideshow (There’s more images than on the blog =D):

Now onto the blog =D

The view outside my window in the morning

The view while on the way to the beach!

I got a chuckle from this...

A view from the lifeguard chair

While I loved all these images, I knew I was in for a good time when I saw this:

The shoot is continued here:

Paul & Linda Engagment Shoot II

(Apologies…this would have been one post…but wordpress is being a pain…so it’s in two parts) You can find Part I here:  http://marcedwards.wordpress.com/2009/08/12/lindapaulengagementi/

Please click on the small image for the slideshow (There’s more images than on the blog =D):

Bart Vs. Lisa: Re-Enacted

Being Ben Stiller fans, they decided to do a Zoolander impressions. 5 bucks if you can tell whether it's Ferrari, Le Tigre, or Blue Steel.

I don’t know whose idea it was to do this one, but it was pretty awesome:

If I could pick one picture to describe Paul and Linda the best...

Balancing Act

After this we took a little rest and then went off to Naperville:

Showing Paul who's the boss.

I'm pretty sure this shot is pretty unique in my portfolio....

While this totally looks romantic...Paul was actually texting someone on his cellphone =P

After this shoot, we went back to Evanston and waited until nightfall for our last shoot at night in Chicago:

And my personal favorite from the shoot:

Let me know what you guys think!!!!

Please click on photo for full view, information and other photos.

Iran Aseman Airlines (Tehran) yesterday (August 11) had a Fokker F.28 Mk. 0100 (Fokker 100) make a hard landing at Isfahan, Iran causing a tire to burst and a resultant fire in the wheel. There were no injuries.

News item:

www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/articles/20090812160152/Article/index_html

So Dad here you go got a brand spanking new 70-200 mm f 2.8 Canon Lens, and one of your dearest goes on an epic first skate…….yeah yeah the pressure builds…..how am i going to keep this heavy beast still while hand golding it, how do i get a fast enough shutter-speed to avoid blur while we are indoor and flash is no use because of distance…..

so the answer is trial and error…get to know your equipment…..it all takes time and understanding. Oh yeah and start to time your breathing…..breath in……hold it….now dont move……”click” ok and your allowed to gasp for air again! a bit like that!

at first it didnt go too well, but in the end and often a 1000 Iso all went down ok’ish. Appologies there are some other test shots mixed up i did in the afternoon……sweet stuff this lens and mind you it was heavily overcast today!

It was with great excitement and trepidation that I met up with Linda and Paul to photograph their Engagement shoot. I hadn’t had this much fun in a long time! It was barely 5 minutes into meeting each other before the atmosphere changed from “Shooting an Engagement” to just hanging out while I was taking pictures.

Such a chill and relaxed couple and so in love, I had too much fun photographing them!

A preview of the shoot:

There’s more coming!!! Don’t worry =P

Let me know what you guys think!!! =D

Click here for Slideshow

Click here for Gallery

This past June 29th, I flew out to the Dominican Republic to photograph the wedding of Maria & Dmitry.

The wedding was gorgeous, the scenery-beautiful. You couldn’t ask for anything more!

Though there was a little bit of worry about the weather for the ceremony as the predictions were cloudy with a chance of showers, but in the end everything turned out well and the sun came out to play on their wedding day.

Onto the pictures:

The resort:

Dreams Punta Cana

The inside once you walk in.

The Gazebo where the ceremony would take place.

My personal favorite =D

To Maria & Dmitry,

thank you for allowing me the privilege to photograph your wedding. I wish you both the best!

with love,

Marc

This past July 7th, I went with family to the Brookfield Zoo and found some time to relax a little bit.

Male Peacock. Females are known as Peahens =D

Someone suggested that this peacock looks like the bird in the movie “UP” named Kevin:

Kevin (Image courtesy of Pixar)

I totally see it =P

Unfortunately for me I didn’t have much time to spend at the zoo, so I was somewhat limited to photographing a few sections =(

Giraffe’s rock.  And I sorta laughed when they have to position themselves awkwardly (due to their anatomy) in order to eat from the ground:

I was told that one of the giraffes had caught a fungal infection.

Humboldt Penguins

A Rhino playing Hide and Seek. Apparently the boulder was too small =(

Hornbill

Not sure what this was. Though it was pretty.

Someone next to me suggested that this bird looked like it could have been a member of KISS:

Caw. Caw.

I totally see it.

Bactrian Camels. Named for the dual humps on their backs. I remember that cus the two humps resemble a "B" =) For the purpose of this blog, I'll be naming these 3 camels Larry, Curly, and Moe.

Everyone that went out that day. My mom is in the Blue hat, my sister, the blue shirt (Congrats Sara!)

Let me know what you guys think!  And I’ll have more images from the Dominican Republic up soon!!

This past Sunday, My sister Sara received a proposal from her boyfriend of almost 2 years.

It was inevitable;  The moment Steve started dating her, my father said that “Sara was in trouble.”  She had found the one guy that I had liked the most out of all her boyfriends-one with a level head on his shoulders, a good job, and serious aspirations.  It would only be a matter of time before Steve took things seriously with Sara and would want to include her in his future plans.

After all the planning, the date was set:  We were to meet at the Lakeshore Athletic Club on Stetson, where Sara worked.  Steve had chosen a climbing wall as a place to propose as it was how he first met Sara.  Both sides of the family were hidden on the 2nd floor, Sara and Steve were in the basement, preparing to climb the Club’s 100 foot wall.  Steve was to climb first, then “Suggest” that Sara meet him halfway up and they climb up together.  The rest of the story is in the following photos and captions:

Steve made his way up first

Sara's ring hanging off Steve's carabiner. He didn't want to drop it while he was 50 feet in the air and have it fall past Sara =P

Sara made her way up after what seemed like FOREVER.

My mom waiting in Anticipation =)

Steve's Mom waiting in anticipation =P

Steve's sister Judy doing the photographer thing too.

My father peaking around the collumn.

Judy's boyfriend being sneaky sneaky...

A few words before Steve takes action.

4

3

2

1

Begin Waterworks.

Sara still in shock as she's lowered down.

Steve's mom wiping her tears.

My sister's ring up close.

Steve's father laughing.

My mom being a photographer (now you know where I get it from) with my father and Steve's father

Looking at the ring in better detail

Best wishes and unending happiness to you and Steve =)

Love,

Kuya

This past June 29th, I had the honor of photographing Maria & Dmitry’s wedding.  A deeply emotional wedding, Maria and Dmitry had over 40 guests and 15 speeches at their destination wedding in the Dominican Republic!

Photographer Geektalk:

Having been a die hard Nikon user (D3 bodies, and all Nikon primes) I also used this wedding as an opportunity to work with Canon for the very first time.  As Nikon doesn’t have certain Canon Primes- 24/35mm 1.4, 50/85mm 1.2, I gave in and decided to get a Canon 5d body (Mark I) and an 85mm f/1.2 LII.  My conclusion about the Nikon vs. Canon Debate; both have their own strengths, but there’s advantages/disadvantages to both =P

I also learned that with a Pocketwizard Plus II, you can activate a Nikon SB 900 while using a Canon SLR.  LOL.  You learn something new everyday hahah.

Here are a few of my personal favorites to give you a preview:

Shot with the Canon 5d/85mm f/1.2. The Depth of field and Bokeh are incredible with this lens!!!!

More to come soon!!!

Ting and Chris got married this past May 16th weekend in a quiet ceremony that involved only me, them, and the officiant =).

Married in North Beach at 8:30 in the morning on a Saturday, the ceremony was quiet, peaceful and sweet. The clouds had me worried for photography just for a little bit, but in the end, they went on their own way and the Sun made its way through. The Skyline of Chicago made a beautiful backdrop for me =D

To See their slideshow, go to http://www.marc-edwards.com/slideshows/TingChris

Now onto the pictures:

Let me know what you guys think!!!!

To See their slideshow, go to http://www.marc-edwards.com/slideshows/TingChris

Myanma Airways (Yangon) according to Reuters lost its Fokker F.28 Mk. 4000 XY-ADW (msn 11114) on June 6 when it crash landed at Sittwe in western Myanmar on a flight from Yangon. Three people were injured. The aging airliner is probably an insurance write off but this is subject to confirmation.

Additional details from Reuters:

www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/BKK465569.htm