Top Wedding Photographer in Nigeria

The Nikon D4 is Announced

January 6th, 2012

This is not a review of any sort, just my personal rumblings on Nikon’s new offering.

Nikon professionals the world over have been drooling since the announcement of the brand new Nikon D4 camera early this morning. The new D4 is the new flagship product in the Nikon range and rightfully so too.

Now, its not too often you find me blogging about cameras and gear but I just had to this once. This camera is a dream come true for photographers like me and I really can’t wait to get my hands on one of this baby. While I already own the Nikon D700 and the Nikon D3s, 2 top of the line pro cameras from Nikon. This new camera opens up new possibilities for me as a wedding photographer, I can see so many potentials already. Imagine having http access to your camera controls and files wireless from an ipad or mobile device, half way around the world !!!!

Normally I won’t expect to see such a substantial increase in image quality from my existing cameras but the new features this new camera offers certainly does make them very tempting. I expect to see improved low noise management which the D3s was already amazing at. I expect to see improved low noise management which the D3s was already amazing at.Now this camera isn’t for everybody, this camera is aimed at the pros who are at the very top of their game and for whom only the best will do.

The Nikon D4 becomes the first Nikon full frame dslr to fully support 1080p video( the D3s supports 720p) and while I don’t expect to shoot a lot of videos, its nice to know I have that just when I need it.

Inside the D4′s magnesium alloy body, there’s a 16.1MP FX format CMOS sensor, a 91,000 pixel 3D Matrix Metering system, support for an ISO range from 100-12,800 (expandable from 50-204,800), the ability to shoot 10 fps with full AF/AE (or 11 fps with AF locked), a place for CF or XQD memory cards, and everything it needs to spit out full 1080p video.

Now talking about the new XQD memory card, Sony became the first company to offer a range memory cards in the XQD format. XQD was recently announced by the Compact Flash Association and is based around the PCI Express specifications, allowing write speeds of 125MB/sec and beyond. Sony claims that, when used in the brand new Nikon D4, (currently the only camera supporting the format), the cards can record up to around 100 frames in RAW format in continuous shooting mode. The first cards will be available from the end of January. Sony has also announced a USB 3.0 card reader for the format.

Starting at $6000 ( about 1 million naira) for just the body alone, I think its pretty pricey but fully worth it. Can’t wait to get my hands on this baby.

Below I have embedded an official video announcing the camera, images of the camera from Nikon’s website and a link to Nikon’s page for more detailed information about the camera.

Nikkor AF-S 85mm f-1.8G today for $500 Now to call Okey Japan, to see if he can hook a brother up with this baby

Now to call Okey Japan, to see if he can hook a brother up with this baby

Nikon D4 rear view

Nikon D4 Front View

Nikon D4 Official Page

Posted in News, Talk, Video | No Comments »

Happy New Wedding Year !!!

January 2nd, 2012

Happy New Year everybody!!!!

2011 was a pretty impressive year for our wedding photography business as we continue to win our way into the hearts of many Nigerian brides. We want to say a big thank you to everyone that was part of the whole Xsightn experience and we promise to continue to exceed your expectations.

For 2012, I am praying to shoot in new markets such as Kenya, Angola and the middle east, so if you know someone getting married in those locations be sure to reach out to me.

One of the most symbolic things that happened to me personally in 2011, was the acquisition of my Nikon D3s camera. For me this is the perfect fusion of form and performance. This camera already has began to take my photography to a whole new level, I am treading in paths, I would never have dreamt of in the past thanks to the amazing craftsmanship of the great guys in Nikon. These days I am just as comfortable shooting at iso 6400 as I am at iso 200. I really cannot wait to open the 2012 wedding season shooting with this wonderful camera.

One of my mentors, Steve Jobs also passed away after a very long fight with cancer, he was an inspiration and I “gulped up” every single word he uttered. Steve Jobs is regarded by many as the man who has made the biggest impact on technology in the last decade or so.

I promise to try my very best to keep this blog as recent as possible so you all stay tuned.

And because a picture is worth a thousand words, here is a picture from a Nigerian wedding album I am currently working on.

Happy new year everybody !!!.

Tags: 2011, 2012, best, bridal, bride, happy, new, nigeria, photographer, top, traditional, Wedding, year
Posted in Talk, Weddings | No Comments »

The Ondo Wedding of Olamide and Muyiwa

December 6th, 2011

Its quite easy to actually forget you own a blog

It’s took my friend and fellow Nigerian professional photographer, Leye Olumide to remind me that I had not posted anything in a while.

I had to quickly dig into my collection to find something to share.

The wedding of Olamide and Muyiwa took place in Ondo state and as every Xsightn wedding usually is, it was a real treat to shoot.

Strangely I just delivered the couple’s albums just a week ago for onward delivery to their base in the UK.

I want to say a big thank you to you both, you guys were simply amazing and I wish you all the best together, forever.

PS: Muyiwa is such an amazing guy and for a guy he did know what he wanted when he contacted me, most guys don’t really care. I have never met a guy who was so concerned about details, he always wanted to clarify and even write everything down. (Little does he know how much his attention to detail has had an impact on me.)

Here are some of my images from the white wedding of Muyiwa and Olamide, because I always take soooooo many pictures, I really had to control myself to upload only a few, hope you guys like them.

My name is Kayode and I am the lead wedding photographer for Xsightn Photography.

You can contact me via bookings@xsightn.com for your next event.

Like my work on Facebook – www.facebook.com/xsightn

Watch my videos on Youtube – www.youtube.com/xsightn

Follow me on twitter – www.twitter.com/xsightn

Tags: 2011, 2012, lagos, muyiwa, nigeria, nigerian, olumide, ondo, photographer, top, Wedding
Posted in Weddings | 1 Comment »

The Celebrity Wedding of Obiwon and Nkechi in Nigeria

October 27th, 2011

On Saturday 22nd October 2011, Nigerian inspirational gospel musician, Obiora “Obiwon” Agu married his sweetheart, Nkechi Obioma Ezeife. The couple wed at the All Souls Church in Lekki followed by a thrilling and romantic reception at the Incubator in Victoria Island.

I was contacted by Namywedding.com to shoot this celebrity wedding and when I heard it was for Obiwon, I quickly accepted. Obiwon is a musician that I totally love listening to and the opportunity to meet with him and indeed shoot his wedding was one I just couldn’t resist. His anthem, “Obimo” still gives my goose bumps.

I fell in love with the whole wedding for a number of reasons.

One, I was shooting the wedding of an awesome talent that I truly admired, a true celebrity who could hold his own very well anywhere.

Two, I was the only official photographer on ground so I really didn’t need to “struggle” to get my shots, this is always very important for me and I actually don’t accept assignments when I am not the main shooter.

Thirdly, It was a night wedding, from church to the reception, it was wholly a night affair. Night weddings are not too common in Nigeria and the opportunity to shoot my first was to tempting to ignore. Shooting night weddings does post a lot of challenges to the photographer but if you are able to step over those challenges you should get pictures that truly stand out. I struggled a in the night but my Nikon D3s shone like a million stars when everything go very very dark.

I have worked with quite a number of Nigerian celebrities in the past and permit me to say Obiwon and his wife, Nkechi’s “head dey for house “. Both were quite down to earth and showed no signs of “forming” or being larger than life. On first meeting me, both were extremely friendly and even wanted to be sure I had something to eat and drink.

I got to sing back my favorite Obiwon song “Obimo” to the crooner while Nkechi and her chief bridesmaid were kind enough to breakdown the whole Igbo lyrics of the song to me, line after line.

Obiwon and Nkechi’s wedding was an amazing celebration of love! Nkechi was a beautiful glowing bride in her corseted lace dress accessorized with a stunning hair piece. Their wedding had a lovely springtime feel with lots of yellow flowers, lights and swaths. Obiwon and Nkechi’s love and joy was obvious to everyone in attendance all through the ceremony and reception including the special moment when the groom got on stage and sang a special song just for his bride!

This pictures have already been featured on Nigerian wedding website, Namywedding and also BellaNaija.

Specially thanks to Tito Abumere, my very talent second shooter who assisted in making this terrific images.

Here are a few pictures from the official wedding photographer of the wedding of Obiwon and Nkechi, hope you guys like it.

The Nigerian Wedding of Obiwon and Nkechi

Nigeria Wedding Photography

View photos at SmugMug

Tags: best, celebrity, kayode, nigeria, nigeria weddings, nkechi, obiora and nkechi, Obiwon, Wedding, wedding website, xsightn
Posted in Weddings | 1 Comment »

The Beautiful Wedding of Titi and Ibrahim (Nigerian Traditional Wedding)

October 10th, 2011

Its nice to be blogging again.

I have been offline for quite a bit I know , I was just too plain lazy to blog.

I was recently out of the country again, attending a photography workshop by Egyptian award winning photographer, Toufic Arman. I will be dedicating a blog post to that travel and expereince but let me just say this now about the workshop, it was one of the best learning expereinces I have ever experienced. Toufic Arman speaks in lights !!! Workshop was on Beauty and Fashion Photography, I am hoping I will be able to integrate some of my learnings from the workshop into my Nigerian wedding work.

Back to my beautiful Nigerian wedding blog post.

Titi and Ibrahim’s Nigerian wedding is the sort of wedding we Nigerian photographers crave for and other international photographers take for granted.

Firstly, I was the only photographer of the day , yeah you heard me right, I didn’t say official photographer, I said photographer, meaning no other photographer was even visible. For those of you that shoot Nigerian weddings you know this is extremely rare, especially when its a wedding for such a high end couple. The experience was nothing short of spectacular. No photographers to dodge, no photographers to get in my shot, no photographers to …. I had a swell time, I had all the time in the world to be creative for both days. This is what I believe has translated to really beautiful wedding images.

Secondly, it was a small affair (not a lot of guests at least by Nigerian standards) and the hall was also moderately sized and beautifully decorated. I was able to cover the hall quite quickly and easily and this is quite important to me.

For both days, I was all over Lagos, from getting ready in Banana island in Lagos, to Yetunde Apartments in parkview Ikoyi, then to Anthony Village for day 2 and then back to parkview for the reception.

Titi, the bride started up playing the shy bride but my o my, boy did she groove when we got to the reception, she totally got out of her shell and moved to some “WINDECK”.

Ibrahim, was the perfect smiling, emotional, handsome groom, I totally enjoyed shooting him cry in church just when he caught the very first glimpse of his wife to be, it was the ultimate wedding photography moment.

I had a swell time shooting this awesome couple.

I will let this pictures speak for themselve.

Special thanks to Titi and Ibrahim, God bless you both and thanks for having an Xsightn wedding.

Here are just very few images from their wedding, in all about 2000 final images were delivered to client

My photography is all about capturing emotions.

We took a few pictures just after the bride’s makeup was ready. She looked perfect and I just had to steal her away from the crowd. I tried not to direct her as much as I could and really just allowed her to do her thing. Ibrahim will be enjoying this pictures for years to come.

Royalty ….

Announcing the arrival of Ibrahim…. He arrived the venue like a Kind would with a a lot of well wishers. Using a wide angle lens and shooting from the ground up, helped to exaggerate the whole scene. I love it..