Looking for a Wedding Photographer in St. Louis?

John Dawson Photography is available for your wedding, party, or other memorable event. Don’t hesitate to contact us for details about our photography services.

Recent Updates:

  • Jan 14
    St. Louis Area Wedding/Event Planner

    In my attempts to keep my site current, I’ll be updating a bunch of galleries soon. I also wanted to take a moment to welcome the newest St. Louis event planning company - Dishy Events! Dishy was by a good friend and former client (wedding photo gallery to be added soon!), Dishy is poised to make a big impression on the event scene here in St. Louis. Dishy Events offers full-service event planning, day-of coordination and various a la carte services. Focusing on a down-to-earth yet professional approach to planning, Ashley Rath is sure to impress any client and the industry with her ability to organize an event down to the minute!

    Here’s to wishing Dishy Events much luck on their new endeavors! I look forward to working with you in the future! If you’re looking for a great event planner, check out the Dishy Events web site at http://dishyevents.com for more details.

  • Jan 05
    I’m still here!

    I’ve been absolutely buried for the last 4 months and have been slacking on updates to my site. I’ll be adding new galleries from weddings and engagement shoots from summer and fall 2009. I’ll hopefully have these up on the site within one week….

  • May 04
    My Big Nikon, Lowepro, and other Equipment Review

    I have accumulated a pretty big stockpile of Nikon and Lowepro equipment over the last few years and after having time to use all of it thoroughly, I thought it was time for a review that compares similar pieces of equipment and offers my personal thoughts on each piece.

    Nikon DSLR Bodies (in the order that I purchased them):

    • D70s (Purchased in 2004 after my first trip to Hawaii) - this was my first DSLR and it is still a great camera. I upgraded to the D2x for better performance and increased resolution.
    • Nikon D2x (Purchased in 2006 after my second trip to Hawaii) - The D2x is a great camera that I still use quite a bit. The integrated vertical grip is a great feature even though the MB-D10 works on both of my newer bodies. The other great feature is the extra LCD at the bottom of the grip that displays ISO and WB. I find myself missing that feature when using my other bodies. I upgraded from the D2x to the D300 when the D300 was first released in hopes of gaining better hi iso performance.
    • D300 (Purchased in 2007) - The D300 has much more accurate WB compared to the D2x. Overall, I feel that ever feature works better than the D2x except the autofocus. The autofocus motor should be able to perform at least as well as the D2x but in low light, it doesn’t lock focus anywhere near as fast as the D2x in the same situation. The D300 does gain about two stops over the D2x but it still does not offer quite the performance I was looking for and this resulted in my upgrade to the D700. Also, the shudder doesn’t sound quite as solid in the D300 as the D2x. The live view feature on the D300 does come in handy in certain occasions.
    • D700 (Purchased in 2009) - The D700 outperforms all three of my previous cameras in every category. The autofocus actually feels like is it upgraded from the D2x which the D300 didn’t. The hi-ISO performance is much better than the D300. I don’t have any doubts about it where I did have to worry about the D300 in certain situations. The white balance is spot on and the shudder is very solid. The new live view is also a great new feature that I like.

    DSLR Lenses:

    • Nikon 70-200mm F/2.8G AF-S IF-ED - This is a great lens that performs very well. The lens is very sharp and provides very soft backgrounds. I have no complaints except that on the D700 I see a bit of vignetting.
    • Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8G AF-S ED - This lens is brand new and I’m still breaking it in but from my initial impressions, this lens is awesome. For indoor work, it gives the perfect focal range and I find myself no longer needing to change lenses or use 2 bodies to get a little more reach - unlike the 17-55mm.
    • Nikon 17-55mm F/2.8G AF-S DX IF-ED - I like the 17-55mm lens but occasionally when shooting on the wide end, I get annoyed by the focal distortion. The lens is very sharp.
    • Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8 XR Di LD AF - I bought this lens as a backup and for the price, it seems to work pretty well…
    • Nikon 85mm F/1.8 AF - for the price, you can’t go wrong. This lens works well for portraits.
    • Nikon 60mm F/2.8D Micro AF-S - this is the newer version of the 60mm Micro lens and it works very well. I haven’t had an opportunity to shoot plants or insects/animals outdoors with it but from what I’ve seen out of it so far, it is awesome.
    • Nikon 50mm F/1.8 AF - for the price, like the 85mm f/1.8, you can’t go wrong. This lens works well for portraits.
    • Nikon 28mm F/2.8D AF - I also purchased this lens last month as a solid prime to use on the D700 for landscapes. I plan really breaking it out and doing some solid testing in the next few weeks as the weather improves.

    Nikon Speedlights:

    • SB-900 - the SB-900 is an awesome flash - it is definitely larger than the SB-800. It features much better controls and the switch allows you to power it on and select the modes. The only problem with the SB-900 is the overheating sensor. The flash totally shuts down when it heats up too much. This doesn’t quite work well when you are in the middle of a wedding and it decides it is too hot.
    • 2x SB-800 - The SB-800 is a very reliable and powerful flash. The advantage it has over the SB-900 is that it doesn’t shut down when it heats up. I have two SB-800 flashes because they work so well.
    • SB-600 - the SB-600 is a great backup or starter flash. I only use it as a backup when I don’t want to take the time to change the batteries in one of my other flashes. It works fine but the controls are very cumbersome and nowhere near as user friendly as the SB-800 or SB-900.
    • SU-800 - The SU-800 allows you to trigger the rest of the Nikon speedlight line wirelessly as long as you have line of sight. The SU-800 performs very well indoors and even outdoors most of the time. I use this trigger quite frequently now and it allows you to really put your flashes to use. I have used the SU-800 with all four of my speedlights for portraits and large outdoor group shots. This is a must have for anyone that is serious.

    Nikon Accessories

    • MB-D10 - The MB-D10 is the vertical accessory grip for the D700 and D300. The grip is very solid and allows you to use an EN-EL3e or d2x/d3 battery for extra power. The grip also allows you to use 8 AA batteries and increases the FPS to 8. I have 2 MB-D10 grips because I love having the ability to shoot with the camera horizontally or vertically with ease. This makes all my advanced bodies feel much more like the D2x.

    The Lowepro reviews will be added to this post shortly!

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