Monday, July 4, 2011

Fireworks




98mm, f5.0, 4 sec, ISO 100


98mm, f10, 5 sec, ISO 100


98mm, f16, 4 sec, ISO 100


98mm, f4.5, 4 sec, ISO 110


90mm, f9, 6 sec, ISO 100


Saturday, July 2, 2011

Outdoors and Overexposed


Early this morning, I grabbed my camera and headed into Old Town to check out the local farmer's market. Again, I had my 50mm lens attached and quickly realized I could have used my 35mm lens instead. The market was crowded and there were instances where I had to zoom out with my feet and avoid bumping into people.

One of the "cons" in several reviews I've read on the D7k mentioned how the camera tends to overexpose in bright light. I have to agree with them. I forgot to adjust my camera and here's the results:


















I think it's time I start using the U1 and U2 modes on the camera and configure the camera for outdoor/bright light settings. That's another dial on the camera that I haven't even experimented with...yet.

BTW...the D7k created a new folder after it reached 999 files on my SD card. Interesting.

Friday, July 1, 2011

Camera Stats: 721 shots at 51% charge


Back in the middle of June, I posted here that I took 718 shots on my first battery charge. I'm now using my 2nd battery (backup) and have taken 721 shots and the battery is showing 51% charge. My, oh, my. That's unheard of.

So what am I doing differently between the two battery charges? One, I'm using the menu system less. I've already tweaked the settings and I pretty much know my way around the menus. Two, I'm not "staring in awe" at the the LCD monitor as much. When I first got the camera I was just awe-struck going from a 2.7" to a 3" LCD screen. I kept zooming in and out to look at the pictures. Three, I'm just shooting pictures like crazy and not having to review each one after each shot. Sounds like "I'm becoming one with my camera". That's happened before with my beloved D40. That's a good thing!

It's been a month since I've purchased my fun-D7k camera. So far, I've taken 1439 pictures. At the rate I'm going, I will have taken 10,073 pictures at the end of this year. Now, that will be a first for me to turn over the camera back to 0001 in under a year or 7 months to be exact. I've already rolled over 3 other cameras, but it took a year to accomplish that.

I'll be back to post the results/stats of my 2nd battery charge. I'm anxious to see if I can get over 1000 pictures on a single charge. So far, it's looking good!

Friday Photos...50mm


When I get home from work, I'm anxious to go out and take pictures. Practice, practice, and more practice using my one month old camera. Here's more flower pics from our gardens. Continuing to use my fab 50mm/f1.4 lens.

Pink Phlox:

50mm, f5.6, 1/640, ISO 100



Butterfly bush and an upside down Swallow Tail:

50mm, f11, 1/125, ISO 250



White Phlox and a bee:

50mm, f8, 1/500, ISO 100



Heliopsis:

50mm, f9, 1/320, ISO 100



My hubby mentioned this year has been a great year for blueberries. We had a wet Winter and Spring season. More blueberries on our shrub:

50mm, f5.6, 1/125, ISO 900


Monday, June 27, 2011

A Few Pictures From the Weekend...50mm Lens


50mm, f8, 1/250, ISO 100



50mm, f5.6, 1/500, ISO 100



50mm, f10, 1/400, ISO 100



50mm, f5.6, 1/250, ISO 100



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



50mm, f8, 1/250, ISO 100



50mm, f5.6, 1/125, ISO 6400



50mm, f5.6, 1/80, ISO 6400


Saturday, June 25, 2011

Blueberries...Summer is Here


Since last weekend, I've spent all week shooting with my Nikkor 50mm f1.4 lens. I've had some really good results. Practice, practice, and more practice. It's been over two weeks since I've had my 18-200mm wide/zoom lens on my camera. I've learned to let go. I've learned to enjoy my prime lens.

Last night, my hubby told me to check out our blueberry bushes and to bring an empty container. I had forgotten about the single blueberry bush that we had transplanted over 12 years ago. We actually saved it from being bulldozed over to make way for a new development out in Reston. We actually saved two, but one of them died...probably from the stress of the transplant. We were able to get a handful every year. A few years ago, hubby planted another blueberry bush for me. Kind of like having companion mates. Yes, I forgot about them until last night. We had a bumper crop of blueberries. I collected as much as my container would hold. Then hubby came behind me and collected some more. Actually, he was eating them while collecting them.

In all, we had about a little over 2 lbs of fresh blueberries:

50mm, f5.6, 1/40, ISO 6400


Early this morning, I started breakfast with my Honey Nut Cheerios and those beautiful berries on top:

50mm, f5.6, 1/125, ISO 4500



I am so thankful for blueberries and for my darling hubby who did the major transplant years ago.

50mm, f5.6, 1/125, ISO 2200



Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Nikkor 50mm/f1.4 Lens



Some sample pictures taken with my 50mm lens:

50mm, f5.6, 1/125, ISO 100



50mm, f8, 1/125, ISO 140



50mm, f4, 1/125, ISO 100



50mm, f1.4, 1/4000, ISO 100