Relying on My Backup Point and Shoot Camera

I was late starting out this morning, grabbed my shoulder bag and headed to church.  As I entered the church sanctuary I realized the church elders were having a special announcement...our new pastor arrived.  I didn't have my trusty D7k DSLR with me.  I quickly pulled out my Coolpix 7100, set it to Program mode, auto ISO between 100 to 200, and hoped for the best.

I took these from the back of the church.  The church lights were dimmed except for the front platform area. Based on previous experience, any movement would result in a blurred picture:

Here, you can see everyone was still during the praying over our new pastor and his wife.  The CP7100 handled this picture very well as I zoomed in (157mm, f4, 1/4, ISO 200) and composed this shot:

I took this picture during the Children's story skit.  Again, everyone was still and the picture came out reasonably well:

After a few shots, I noticed I was getting blurred pictures from the kids moving around.  Any slight head movement produced a big enough blur in the picture.  I then switched my ISO from 100-200 to Auto High ISO.  I haven't used this setting before and wasn't sure what kind of results I would get.

We had a special sermon presented from one of our youths, Alex.  Alex had the whole congregation involved at the beginning of his sermon.  This picture's ISO was 1600:

Here's another picture taken at ISO 1600.  The kids were moving, but notice there are no blurred body action:

After looking at these pictures and comparing it to ones I've taken with my DSLR, this CP7100 did a great job with the white balance.  My pictures came out brighter as well.  Not as clear or sharp as my DSLR, but good enough to post here and on Facebook.

I'm pretty happy with the results.  I made do with what I had with me.  My Coolpix point and shoot camera didn't let me down.

My Favorite Bag: Tamrac Aria 6 for Photographing Events

A few months ago when I was visiting my local camera shop, I came across this bag in person.  I originally saw this bag advertised on Amazon and then immediately went over to Tamrac's website to check out the specifications.  The bag is new this year and comes in two versions:  Aria 3 and Aria 6.  The Aria 3 bag is so adorable, but I knew it would be too small for all the camera equipment I wanted to carry with me (just in case).  I was on the fence with the Aria 6 bag.  I wasn't too sure that it would be huge and bulky for me to carry around.  

At my local camera shop, they carried both models plus the three colors:  black, brown and moss.  All three colors were beautiful!  I had a hard time choosing the color, but naturally opted to get the safe color...black.  I think my second choice would be brown.  I know, I shouldn't choose the camera bag color based on my wardrobe!  If I didn't play it safe, my first choice would have been moss green.  It was that pretty!

Back to my bag choice.  The Aria 3 is quite small and would fit a D40 or a D5000 camera with a short lens without any problems.  It's an adorable sized bag.  Very fashionable.  I chose the Aria 6 for its size and capability to hold all the camera equipment I would need to carry with me.  

Aria 6: Front

The bag is made of lightweight water-resistant nylon fabric.  Yes, the bag is amazingly light.  I thought I would wear this bag as a messenger bag, across the body.  I haven't had the need to.  It works perfectly as a shoulder bag.  That's how comfortable it sits on my shoulder.

The back of the bag with pocket

One of the key selling points for me was the side pockets.  It can hold my iPhone.  I can slip it in the pocket with any problems.  Now, how many camera bags do you know that have small phone pockets that can hold an iPhone-size smartphone?

Side view

The interior is very roomy and holds all the camera gear I want to take with me:  D7000 with my 18-200 attached, SB-700 speed light, an additional lens (one of my primes), a small lens blower, extra batteries, extra media cards, my keys, my wallet, my pens and notepad for taking notes, and of course my iPhone.

The removeable padded interior dividers flexes quite a bit.  It hasn't been an issue with me.  I just wanted to point it out as other bags come with a firmer padded dividers.

Inside the bag with my D7000

Inside, there's a back padded pocket for an iPad.  With all the camera equipment I have to carry, adding an iPad does weigh the bag down a bit.  Still, it's a handy addition in case I need to use it.

Interior:  additional pockets for storage

Under the front flap is a pleated zippered pocket.

Under the front flap:  another pocket for storage

The Aria 6 bag is very stylish, lightweight, and very functional.  Isn't it cute?

The adjustable strap with movable padding

While I use my Aria 6 bag for taking pictures of local events, I still have my favorite camera backpack,  the Tamrac Evolution 6 that I use for long distance travel.




Just like purses and wallets, a girl can't have too many camera bags.  Yes, I'm a Tamrac gal at heart!

Just a Thought...

I'm thinking of another lens.  Real soon.  It's at least an 85mm fixed lens.  Hubby will be getting it for my birthday in a few weeks.  Will let you know which one I decide on.  I never thought I would enjoy working with single fixed lens so much.

Unrelated to this post is a picture of a Hibiscus flower taken with my Coolpix point and shoot:

After the rain with my Coolpix 7100

I couldn't do a post without a picture.  Especially when this is a photog blog.

Miniatures! Examples in the Garden

I always enjoy visiting the local garden center.  I enjoy it more now that I have a awesome point and shoot camera with me all the time.  I'll never miss a photo opportunity like these wonderful miniature gardens.  Check out the clever planters they use.  How many tiny garden props can you spot?

How cute!

The BBQ grill is the planter

What a great way to reuse an old wagon!

Now that's creativity in the works!

An Unusual Turkey

I came across a most unusual variety of turkey.  Look at the white feathers!

Here's a thirsty chicken:

Hydrangeas and My Point & Shoot

I thought I would take a break from my technical posts and show some pictures of hydrangeas that are blooming in our garden right now.  These were taken with my Coolpix point and shoot camera in aperture mode.  Unfortunately, I don't have the names of these beauties.  I have to wait for hubby to give me clues....

I'll be back to with a post about this nifty point and shoot camera!  Stay tuned!

Slave Settings for Nikon SB-600 Speedlight

I finally had a chance to take some pictures of my SB-600.  Here's my instructions on how to set the Nikon SB-600 Speedlight as a slave flash.

My SB-600 flash with normal settings:

SB-600 normal display (P7100)

Press the "Zoom" and "-" buttons simultaneously and hold until the CSM setting mode displays.  Then press the "-" or the "+" to get to the wireless connection setting.  This will appear as a squiggly "z" shaped arrow and displays "OFF" by default:  

SB-600 showing wireless communication is Off  (P7100)

Press the "Mode" button once to change from "OFF" to "ON":

SB-600 showing wireless communication is On (P7100)

Press the Power "ON/OFF" button to exit the CSM setting mode.  The display will now show the SB-600 in slave mode with CH set to 3 and Group set to A (default settings):

SB-600 set to slave on Channel 3 and Group A (P7100)

Once my SB-600 is set to slave, the flash will remain powered on and ready to go.  Red LED lights will blink until I take a picture and then continue to blink afterwards.  Also the SB-600 will make a chime sound when I take a picture to let me know that the flash was fired.  Nice!



Here is my new SB-700 Speedlight.  It is set to Master and would be installed on my D7000.  On the lower right, is the On/Off/Slave/Master toggle and button switch.  To set this flash to Master, I press and hold the round button while moving the toggle to Master.  Here's what the display settings look like:

SB-700 set as Master (P7100)

In the above picture, you can see that I've set my Group A flash exposure setting to -1.00 EV and the (M)aster set to 0.0EV.  Group B flash exposure is showing "---" as there are no flashes being used for this group.  Pressing the "SEL" button several times allows me to move between the different fields displayed.  I use the rotating dial (around the OK button) to make my changes.  Once I make the appropriate changes, I just press the "OK" button to accept the changes.  Now I'm ready to take my pictures.

My next adventure will be to use my D7000 DSLR as the commander or master flash and then set my SB-700 as a slave as well as my SB-600.  Stay tuned!

Pictures were taken with my Nikon Coolpix P7100 and Nikon SB-400 flash.