In the Pink

Before getting ready for church this morning, I grabbed my camera and monopod and headed out to see what was in bloom.  The grass was wet and cold as I wandered around the gardens.  Not a sit in the grass type of morning for me.

There was a lot of pink in the garden:

Bleeding Heart

Pink Dogwood

Heuchera

Rhododedron

I prefer to take pictures in the early morning hours versus the early evening.  Sometimes I think the colors are more vibrant.  Maybe it's because I'm wide wake and take my time to compose the pictures and take in the beauty.  What a way to start the day!

In the Bag...Manfrotto

This evening, I found my new Manfrotto tripod and ball head waiting for me.  I pulled out the tripod and noticed right away the quality and how sturdy it was.  It weighs slightly under 4 lbs.

Manfrotto 190XPROB Tripod legs

I opened the ball head box and immediately noticed the ball head weight.  I spent a few minutes and played around with the locks and the rapid/quick release plate.  This ball head is well made.

Manfrotto 498RC2 Ball Head

This new Manfrotto system replaces my old SLIK all in one tripod that I've had for 30 years.  Yes, I can't believe I waited this long to get a quick release tripod.

After much research, I knew I would end up with the Manfrotto brand.  I had to decide between aluminum or carbon fiber and then to select what type of tripod head to get.  Price (budget) was a factor in deciding which model to get.

Based on past experience and habits, I don't plan on "carrying" a tripod with me everywhere I go.  It's the same with my flash.  So, I ended up getting the aluminum version.  I went with a bigger ball head just to make sure it could handle a bigger camera or a larger lens.    

This weekend, I will put the Manfrotto to the test.  Practice, practice, and more practice.  I'm looking forward to playing with my new toy.

More Early Bloomers (Monopod)

This  month, my hubby has been extremely busy at the nursery getting plants on the table for the early gardeners.  He estimates the blooms we are seeing in our gardens are 2-3 weeks early.

Last night the temperature hovered around the mid- to upper-30s.  Great sleeping weather for us.  Hubby was anxiously watching the weather reports.  Luckily he didn't have to go into work and deal with any frost damage to his plants.

Here are some additional blooms I found in our gardens:

Pink Dogwood

Fothergilla

Phlox

Tulips

Sweet scented Viburnums

I had a little help with these pictures.  I used my Manfrotto monopod.  I could get used to this stick.  I do notice an improvement in my pictures.

Something Art-sy?

I had to lay on the ground to capture this picture.  Luckily it was a damp walkway and not in the wet grass/garden.  The things we do to capture that Kodak moment:

What do you see in this drop of water?

Pieris Japonica

Here are fothergilla buds.  Not really in focus, but the background is interesting:

Fothergilla buds

More to come....

Taking My Micro Lens to Church

I took my camera to church to take some pictures of my friend's daughter, Gabby.  Gabby, a high schooler, was presenting her sermon today.  As I mentioned before, our church doesn't have the best interior lighting.  I thought it would be a great opportunity to try out my new lens.  Here's the results:

This is one sharp lens!  Again, no flash and no tripod.  All pictures were taken hand held.

At the end of the service, one of the church members approached me and asked if I would be interested in taking their wedding pictures next month.  I felt honored and said I would.  I plan on using my D40 and D7000 to capture this special moment.

Looks like I'll need to get a real tripod and ball head.  Does anyone have any recommendations?  What do you use?

A Blooming Month

Every evening I've been out in our gardens with my camera in hand.

Since we're experiencing warmer weather, many of the blooms are fading fast.

I took the following picture while holding the camera with one hand.  Wow...that felt weird.  

I've been playing around with my 40mm micro lens and learning to take pictures without a tripod.

It hasn't been that easy.  I'm mostly on the ground either sitting or lying on my side to capture that Kodak moment. It's all about when to breathe and keeping the body and arms still.

I'm looking forward to seeing our Rhododendrons and sweet-scented Viburnums bloom over the next few days.

Cherry Blossoms

This year I've missed going down to the Tidal Basin to see the cherry trees.  Luckily, hubby has planted a few in our gardens.

In general, the spring bloomers (magnolias, redbuds, cherry trees, etc) have been magnificent to watch.  I especially enjoyed them in the early morning light as I drive into work.  The colors have been spectacular!

More Spring Flowers

Taking a Step Back with the Micro

I've been intrigued with the close up pictures I've taken with my new lens.  I can't get over how sharp the pictures are coming out.  I give all the credit to having a great lens.  I've been playing around with the aperture and figuring out the sweet spot.  So far, it appears to be around f4 and f8.

This evening the sun was hiding behind the clouds.  I thought this would be a great opportunity to capture a colorful shot of what's blooming in our garden.

Hyacinths

Hyacinth

I took the same pictures yesterday evening while the sun was still out, but the hyacinths' colors were blown out from the bright natural light.  I even played with the exposure a bit, but didn't like the results I was getting.

I'm looking forward to seeing what new blooms the weekend brings me.

Micro Shots in the Garden

This evening, I had a chance to try out my new Nikkor micro prime lens:  40mm f/2.8G AF-S DX.  I am soooo impressed with this new find.  It's a joy to be shooting with a sharp lens.

40mm, 1/320, f/3.2, ISO 100

40mm, 1/125, f3.2, ISO 180

40mm, 1/125, f/8, ISO 500

I wished I had more daylight hours to test out this lens.  I wanted to get a few shots of the daffodils and the hydrangeas that are in the midst of blooming.

Okay, so this next picture has nothing to do with florals.  I wanted to show the details that this awesome lens can capture:

40mm, 1/125, f/11, ISO 1400

Looks like for the next few mornings, I'll be up and out at the crack of dawn capturing more shots.  One can hope.

Spring is in the Air!

Do you feel it?  I can definitely feel it and now see it.  We've been experiencing some warm days this month and this coming week will be in the 70s.  This morning, I grabbed my camera and my old 50mm lens and strolled around our gardens to see what was blooming.  I found several patches of daffodils smiling brightly in the morning sun.

I took this Helleborous picture while in the shade.  I hope to get another picture later in the day when this part of the garden gets a bit more sun.

It was quite chilly this morning and I used my padded kneeling pad to park my rear end on the cold walkway and grass.  I knew that pad had other uses besides gardening.

While I enjoy using my 50mm lens for floral pictures, I do have a hard time getting up close.  I've been doing some research for the last few months and I think I came up with a solution.  Stay tuned!  :)

Another Gadget in My Bag

I want to take a moment to thank my brother for bringing to my attention a cool toy that I added to my bag a few months ago.  It's an ultraportable laptop by Samsung.  I was able to get this for half price at my local Staples store.  It has an 11.6" matte screen, 4GB RAM, 320GB HD and has chicklet-type keys similar to the Mac Book Pro laptops.   It came with Windows 7 Home Premium edition as well as MS Office 2010 Student edition.  What a deal!

It's not like a "netbook" at all.  It's much more powerful and weighs less than 4 pounds.  It's truly ultraportable!

A built-in SDHC reader is located underneath the front/bottom of the laptop

Two USB ports and an SVGA connection

Power connector, NIC, a third USB port, HDMI connector, and output audio jack

I primarily use this as a travel device for photo editing, posting to my blogs, writing reviews, checking my emails, and doing research on the Internet.  It also has an SDHC reader built into the laptop and I take this with me on photo shoots.

When my brother came to visit me last year, we went window shopping at Staples.  He said the key words..."check this out" and pointed to this laptop.  After a few minutes of playing, I was hooked.  I waited and waited for a few weeks and finally Staples put it on sale.

It is quick to start up and shut down.  I've installed the latest version of PhotoShop Elements and it runs beautifully.  I've been extremely happy with this purchase.  I'm enjoying the portability and light weight feature of this new toy.

To my brother...a big thank you!

My Hubby Preaching

This morning my hubby preached a sermon "Is He Real?" at our church.  He is recovering nicely from his surgery from a little over two weeks ago.  He still has to take it easy and avoid any lifting for a few more weeks.  Being around church family and friends is very uplifting for the both of us as well as sharing God's message.

It took me a couple of practice shots before I finally captured a decent picture.  Remember, it's been a few weeks since I've picked up my camera.  No flash used.