10,000 Pictures Later...

And I'm still going strong with my D600.  Yes, I rolled over my camera.  Only 9 months young!  I broke my own record.  My D7000 took a little over 12 months.  My D40 took almost two years.  What does that tell me?  I'm taking more pictures than ever.  I'm pushing my skills, expanding my knowledge, and well...I just enjoy taking pictures.  I take pictures of everything that peak's my interest or creativity.

I naturally see lots of leading lines, colors, textures, contrast, and mood.  I take pictures of things or objects that pop out at me.  I take pictures to document what I'm doing.  It could be a hobby like knitting.  I take pictures of my yarn, my garment, or work in progress to share with my fellow knitters.

I take pictures to document events.  They could be baptisms, baby dedications, plays, musicals, civil war weekends, wine tastings, or sports.

I take pictures of people.  Weddings, senior portraits and class photos.  I'll also include street photography.

I take pictures of buildings.  Old, new, contemporary, traditional, wood, brick, and/or stone.

I take pictures of flowers and plants.  Mostly flowers.  Bright colors stand out.

I take pictures of food.  I'm a foodie!  I take pictures of what I bake and what I like to eat.  I take pictures when hubby and I are dining out on our date night.  He's well aware of the 10 second "photo pause" after our food server delivers our food at our table.  Snap! Snap!  And yes, we do pray before we eat.

I take vacation pictures.  Reminders of "fun in the sun".

So, here's the 10,000 picture taken with my D600:

Can you see the spider?

I was following a bumble bee in our garden.  He got caught in a web and was trying to break free of the web.  Something caught my eye.  A black widow spider came out!  Unfortunately, I didn't have my zoom on my camera.  I did have my 60mm micro lens, but there was no way I was getting too close to spidey.  I'm sure it would have been a Kodak moment to get closer...like within an inch.  I just couldn't do it....

Oh and I guess I do take pictures of bugs and critters.  Just not too close.

A May Wedding...as a Guest

I had an opportunity to attend a wedding as a guest.  It was a neat feeling to be a guest.  A different prospective.  I brought my camera and flash with me to take some candid shots of the beautiful event.

I arrived early to take some outside pictures of the church.

The bride's gown was beautiful!

Here she is being "fanned" by her bridesmaids....

Taking a slow walk down the creaky old stairs....

I happened to be standing on the top landing and she looked up briefly...

Rolling out the rice paper...

As a photographer, I'm always on the look out for a good position or spot to take pictures from.  I have a height disadvantage so being around lots of people always poses a challenge for me as I try to avoid the "back of the head" shots.  

I asked if there were any issues with "flash" photography inside the church.  I was told it was up to the pastor.  I noticed many other guests with their DSLRs.  So I observed what others were doing before I started snapping away.  I figured I wouldn't be the first one to get scolded.  

This church had a rear upper balcony.  A fantastic location where I remained perched during the whole ceremony.  

The foot washings...

The wedding ceremony pictures were all taken from the balcony.  A creative perspective.  I used my flash with the flash head in the front position and thought the pictures came out beautifully.

I really enjoyed using my 24-120mm f/4 lens.  I think it did a great job capturing the special moments.

I did have a sore back after the wedding.  I used the balcony railing as my support (tripod) and so I was standing and leaning forward during the whole ceremony.  I must remember to take quick body stretches in between shots.  Yeah it really stinks to be getting old....

A Wedding Shoot in April

I had an opportunity to shoot a wedding at the end of April.  I used my Nikkor 24-120mm f/4 lens and received wonderful results.  While I zoomed in and out throughout the ceremony and reception, I kept my aperture at f/4.  That is one of the nice features about this lens.

Here are the results of my wedding shoot:

I brought my Nikkor 85mm lens with me and it ended up staying in my bag the whole time.  That's how well my 24-120mm lens performed.

Part of my wedding process is designing and printing my own CDs and DVDs which is part of the wedding package.  I have an Epson Artisan printer that is my workhorse.  I can print my CDs/DVDs and photos on this printer.  It's been a lifesaver for me.

In case some of you are wondering I'm stepping out of my comfort zone and photographing weddings on the side.

Next up...a wedding in May.  This time I'm the guest!  :-)