Bill Frakes is a Sports Illustrated staff photographer, and one of the world’s most influential photojournalists, based in Florida, U. S. A. As a filmmaker, he directs music videos and television commercials. He has worked in more than 125 countries for a diverse range of editorial and advertising clients. His editorial pictures have appeared in virtually every major general interest publication in the world. Bill’s advertising clients include Nike, Coca-Cola, Champion, Isleworth, Stryker, IBM, Kodak, Reebok, and Nikon. He has received hundreds of national and international awards including the Pulitzer Prize as a member of the Miami Herald Staff and the Gold Medal of World Press Photo.
Using the D3S is a life-changing experience
Frakes has been adding more D3S bodies to his Nikon arsenal. “The power of the D3S is sensational low-light performance coupled with cinematic-looking video capture and solid audio recording.” Since the D3S came into his hands, he regularly uses ISO 3200 and ISO 6400 with confidence, sometimes even pushing it up to ISO 102400, enabling him to capture photographs using just a small amount of available light, which he couldn’t achieve before. Also, he has shifted towards carrying out more video shooting. “Nearly everything I do now has a multimedia component.” He continues, “The D3S allows me to tell stories across a number of viewing platforms and best utilize my time, in order to better serve the visceral interests of my readers.”
Becoming a complete storyteller with the D-Movie
Including visual portraits, music videos, documentaries, and sports, Bill Frakes’ recent multimedia works cover a wide array of subject matter. “Now I can capture the voices of pictures, literally.” He takes full advantage of the latest D-Movie’s capability for multimedia production that allows him to achieve more complete storytelling, although still photography
is still his biggest passion. At the same time he confessed, “This new pursuit of multimedia has forced me to study a lot and learn new methods and techniques: dollies, motions, jibs and slides…” After trials of numerous different movie-capable cameras, Frakes praises the way that the Nikon’s D-Movie file is composed. “You know all pixels and sensors are not created equally, and the 720p Nikon files are as good as any files in the market including 1080p files or better, especially under low light.” More importantly, he appreciates the operational and handling efficiency of the D-Movie. “Just pushing one button to seamlessly switch from still to video capture and vice versa. As long as you can make yourself mentally agile, you have the ability to do things simultaneously that were virtually impossible two years ago.” He goes on, “The same camera, the same hand placement, the same mental process to do everything both for stills and videos. These days, when both speed and quality are required, the camera should work as an extension of your mind, soul and body. Its original video file should be superb, resulting in less post-production work.” According to Frakes, the D3S has changed the way he does business.
Reliability that counts
“To me, reliability is when I can push the button and the camera is going to click, and when I look at the file it’s going to be right.” Frakes works nonstop apart from taking a few days off a year. Working that hard, he needs a camera that’s going to work as hard as he does. For him, Nikon cameras always perform. Frakes also has a strong emotional tie with NIKKOR lenses.
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