Using My 50mm Lens: A Picture for Photo Challenge #3

When I came home from work I noticed a Swallow Tail butterfly was flittering around in our front garden.  I grabbed my camera and whatever lens was attached and ran out the door.  This was one of a dozen pictures I snapped.

Check out the lovely bokeh this lens produces:

50mm, f2.8, 1/500, ISO 100

Here are a few more shots of the Swallow Tail:

50mm, f2.8, 1/800, ISO 100

50mm, f2.8, 1/1000, ISO 100

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!  :)

Fritters for Breakfast

Yes...that's what we had for breakfast this morning and they were yummy!

Salt fish fritters with scallions and hot peppers (50mm, f1.4, 1/125, ISO 3200)

A Fall Flower

50mm, f1.4, 1/6400, ISO 100

Anniversary Flowers

Hubby and I celebrated our anniversary today.  When I arrived home from work, these beauties were waiting for me:

50mm, f1.4, 1/125, ISO 720

50mm, f1.4, 1/125, ISO 320

50mm, f1.4, 1/125, ISO 320

I love pink roses.  These are sweetly scented.  Ahhhhhhhhh....

Vint Hill Craft Winery - Vint Hill, VA

A fellow knitter had posted on Facebook about a winery she had visited a few weeks ago.  Today I ventured out to Vint Hill Craft Winery.  I had heard about this cool winery where they let you be a winemaker:  select the grapes from Washington, California, and Virginia, help crush, ferment, rack, bottle, and label your own wine.  How cool is that?!  You can also create a custom label for your own bottles.

Isn't this cool?  I found this in the ladies' room

Production machine

This machine puts the cork in the bottles

Unfortunately, these are empty

Bordeaux grapes fermenting and waiting for another press

Vint Hill pictures in the tasting room

The tasting room in the background.  The floor has been removed and you can see the production area below

A beautiful and relaxing wine tasting lounge

Part of the production area

Great signage...tells it all

More pictures of the history of Vint Hill

Another set of pictures on the history of Vint Hill

The final products waiting for wine tasting

Sampling some wines

I had a wonderful time here.  If you get a chance to visit, stop in and say hello to Martha.

Martha:  thank you for the tour of the winery (the history of the barn and the tour of the production area).

Website:  Vint Hill Craft Winery

A Baptism, Baby Dedication, and Renewal of Vows

I had a busy day today.  I spent several hours at my church taking over 300 pictures.  I tried to avoid using the flash inside the sanctuary.  I ended up switching between my 18-200mm and my reliable 50mm lens.

Can you tell?  I just love taking pictures of flowers.

Finds in Alaska...The Other Hobby

I spent one evening on a shopping adventure for my family.  I found two wonderful yarn shops in Anchorage.  I came across these beautiful buttons at Far North Yarns for future garments:

50mm, f5.6, 1/125, ISO 400

Then I came across some beautiful yarns by Rowan, Louisa Harding, and Noro (Far North Yarns and The Yarn Branch):

50mm, f5.6, 1/125, ISO 400

So far, Far North Yarns is my favorite yarn shop.  They had a wide variety of yarns, plenty of colors and a large quantity on hand to knit garments.  I'm in the process of knitting Christmas gifts from these beautiful finds.  Shhhhhh....

A New Small Gadget

As I was seeing hubby off to work early this morning, I looked up in the sky and saw the moon.  I saw a photo opportunity.

The moon at 8:30am EST (200mm, f5.6, 1/1000, ISO 100)

I ran inside to get my camera, tripod, and my new gadget...a corded remote.  I've had this remote for about 3 months, but never got around to trying it out until this morning.  It was pretty simple to use.  I plugged it into the left side of the D7k and turned the camera on and just started clicking away.

Nikon corded remote control (50mm, f1.4, 1/125, ISO 720)

I bought this nifty gadget right after taking pictures of fireworks on the 4th of July.  No more wiggly fireworks pictures for me.