Taking My D600 to The Plains

This past weekend, I took a trip to The Plains, Virginia.  It's a quaint tiny, tiny town.  My mission was to visit a yarn shop called Hunt Country Yarns.  How fitting.  It was a bright sunny day and my D600 had a great time capturing the scene.

The Rail Stop restaurant, once owned by Robert Duval (the actor).  He currently lives a few miles north of The Plains on a 350+ acre farm

This is downtown...The Plains.  I told you it was tiny.  To the left is Hunt Country Yarns and The Rail Stop restaurant in the center

It was a pleasant walk through town

On the other side of town, I found an old 1800 stone church.  I was fascinated with this stone tower-like structure

A glimpse through the archway

The church was very majestic looking

My D600 performed beautifully inside as well as outside:

Hunt Country Yarns:  I fell in love with this hand knitted sweater on display.  I need to learn another knitting technique...entrelac knitting

Hunt Country Yarns: there were cubby holes full of colorful yarns.  All waiting to be "squished" by me!

All pictures taken with my D600 and 50mm f/1.8 lens

I'll be back with a review of my new camera and a comparison with my D7000.  Stay tuned!

Outside with My Full Frame Camera

Early this week, I jumped at the chance to take a quick field trip to test out my new camera in bright daylight.  I headed over to a local nursery as they have more interesting and colorful props to help with my test.  

Colorful gourds

Reminders of Fall:  mums, gourds and pumkins

Mums on a bench

A small fountain in the garden

Colorful pansies

Wood carving

Orchids with watercolor-like background

Striking flowers

At first, I wasn't sure how my D600 would handle the daylight.  Compared to my D7000 which has the tendency to overexpose in bright sunlight, my D600 handled it well.  I left my exposure compensation at 0.0. 

All pictures taken with 85mm f1.8 lens and in Aperture mode.  

Made the Leap: Nikon D600

When I first saw the rumors of an intro Nikon FX camera coming out...I immediately knew a new camera would be in my future.  I just didn't know it would be this soon.  Nikon did a great job with making the announcement and then five days later had the cameras shipped to the retailers.  It only took two days of reading the reviews and specs to realize this was going to be an awesome camera.  It definitely is!

I did have the usual buyer's remorse until the camera arrived in my hot little hands.  The D600 uses the same battery as my D7000.  No waiting to charge a new battery.  I was ready to go.  I also had an extra Crumpler's Industry Disgrace strap that I attached before turning on the camera.  It's an amazing thing for me to have an extra strap...it was meant to be.

The D600 feels a bit heftier in my hands.  It's slightly bigger than the D7000.  The grip is a bit deeper.  The camera is a bit taller.  The LCD is a whopping 3.2 inches.  Looking through the viewfinder...it's huge!  The 39-focus points are the same as the D7000.  BUT...it's noticeably smaller.

I can use both my DX and of course the FX lenses on this camera.  The camera automatically knows when I switch my lens.  When I have my DX lens mounted and I look into the viewfinder, I can see a thin black horizontal window that shows me the cropped DX area.  At this point the 39-focus points look just like what you would see in the D7000 viewfinder.

The D600 handles beautifully in low light.  It's quick to focus.  So far, I've only taken 200 pictures.  I'll be back with some sample pictures and additional findings that I uncover using this amazing camera.

Stay tuned!

My Nikon...Another Milestone!

I did it again.  I rolled over my Nikon D7000 DSLR for the second time.  This year.  Another 10,000 pictures taken.  I've taken over 20,000 pictures.

The 20,000 picture...blooming hybrid tea rose

Our Anemones are still blooming like crazy

I found a bee in our daylily patch

I have a lot more pictures to take this month.  I get to do a photo shoot at a local private school.  They want me to take pictures of individuals as well as group shots.   I am so looking forward to this.

The Eastern Shore...Ocean City

After our adventure to Chincoteague, it was time to head back into Maryland and find our lodging in Ocean City and enjoy some some seafood.

We had beautiful weather last weekend.  It was sunny one day and then overcast the next.  Not too hot.

We stayed on 28th street right on the beach and at the start of the Boardwalk

Parasailing was a popular activity

Can you see the gecko?

Early morning workout activities on the Boardwalk

Plenty of play areas on the beach for the kids

A Jolly Roger theme park between the Boardwalk and pier

Watching the Human Slingshot ride at night.  Yes it was pretty spectacular to watch!

Night time photography on the Boardwalk

The water was quite chilly, but not for the young at heart

The Eastern Shore...Chincoteague Island

Hubby and I had the opportunity to head to the Eastern Shore for a few days last week.  Before heading to our final beach destination in Maryland, we took a side trip and ended up at Chincoteague Island.  It was kind of weird that we started in Virginia, drove a few hours in Maryland, and then ended up in Virginia again.

We slowly drove around the Chincoteague Wildlife Refuge on the island and parked at their beach.  It was a beautiful day with no humidity and we enjoyed the lovely scenery:

Chincoteague Beach Bunny!

The beach at Chincoteague...peaceful and plenty of room on the beach

Boardwalk through the refuge.  The cloud formation reminds me of eyelashes!

Wanted to stay and watch her paint....

The wild Chincoteague ponies!

More wild ponies!

This was one of those times...I wished I had a bigger zoom lens.  Sigh!

I will be back with more pictures from the Eastern Shore!

Another Civil War Commemorative Event...150 years Second Battle of Manassas

Demonstration on how to prepare, load, and fire a civil war cannon

Discussions and talk about civil war life

Taking a break and playing cards

Chatting with the young ladies about their garments

I spied a Nikon camera!  Way cool!

The men slept here at night while the ladies slept at a lodge nearby

Getting ready to fire...plug your ears!

Kabooooom!  It was so loud that it shook my camera!