A Weekend @ The Homestead

My hubby and I took a 3-hour trip to The Homestead in Hot Springs, VA. The last hour of our trip was a beautiful and peaceful drive before arriving into a spectacular resort. Hubby was one of the guest speakers for the "In the Garden" seminar held at The Homestead. I knew this would be a photo opportunity for me. I took over 400 pictures here. These are only a handful that I will share with you. Enjoy!

Arriving at The Homestead. Taken while in the car traveling down the driveway. Not bad for a behind the window shot


The Tower. It was a beautiful afternoon when we arrived. I stopped to capture this moment with the sky filled with while puffy clouds

Notice anything interesting about this building?


It was nice to stroll along and listen to the water

Yellow petunias


A small group of us (the speakers & their spouses) had an opportunity to hike through the Cascades Gorge. We saw 13 waterfalls of which 3 million gallons of spring water flow through each day.


My favorite waterfall picture


Fishing in the Cascades


Another favorite waterfall shot

I thought it would be a great opportunity to practice some photo techniques.

Normal waterfall shot using Program mode


Beautiful waterfall shot using Shutter mode


View from the back of the building. I always make my camera do all the work. So, if it means that I have to rotate my camera 90 degrees to get a beautiful long shot, then it's worth it

Many thanks to Forrest, Claire, Andre, & Eileen for making our weekend so enjoyable

Milestone & Nikon History-My D40 & 10,000 pics

My Milestone:
My Nikon D40 has reached a milestone. One year & one month ago, I purchased my wonderful D40. Today, the picture count on my camera rolled over to "0001" as in "DCS_0001.jpg". Thank goodness my iPhoto application doesn't overwrite my files. Thank goodness for my Mac.



My Nikon History:
I've been a digital camera owner since early 2001 when I purchased the Nikon Coolpix 880 workhorse. That camera took beautiful pictures. I remembered I caused a lot of commotion at work as my fellow co-workers were trying to compare their Canons & Olympus with my Nikon. There was no comparison...Nikon had the best lens back then (they still do now). I purchased many accessories with this camera including the slide copying adapter. This was a cool adapter that allowed me to copy slides (yes, I said slides) into digital format. It didn't take me long to rollover the CP880. I ended up taking roughly 14,000 pictures with that camera.

In 2003, I purchased the Nikon Coolpix 5700. Yes, it was an expensive camera and had a metal body. It was called the "prosumer camera"...not quite compact and not quite DSLR. Somewhere in between. It was a hefty camera that became my workhorse for the next 5 years. This camera had a lot of cool features including a swivel LCD panel that could be rotated out for different viewing angles. The pictures this camera produced was absolutely beautiful. The macro or close-up shots were astounding. The 8x optical zoom was superb. Nice having a fixed all-in-one lens (equiv 35mm to 280mm) on the camera. The only negative I experienced, the camera went through batteries fast. Like snapping 100 pictures fast. That's probably why I ended up having 3 spare batteries in my bag. This camera went everywhere with me. I ended up taking close to 18,000 pictures with this CP5700.

In 2005, I purchased the Coolpix 5600 and the underwater housing to go with it. This was our first true compact camera. The selling point for me was it used AA batteries. DH primarily uses this camera for underwater pictures.

Also in 2005, I purchased the Nikon D70 for DH. Our first DSLR camera. Little did I know then, this camera produces some of the best flesh tone color pictures. It also has a built-in flash control not found in other cameras. You can set external flashes around your subject and the D70 will trigger the flashes.

In mid-2008, I purchased my 3rd digital camera, the Nikon D40. This replaced my CP5700. I've always wanted my own DSLR, but didn't care for the weight or bulkiness. After some research and getting up to speed on current capabilities, I found the D40. Interesting fact: the D40, introduced in late 2006, still continues to sell. Three years on the market is unheard of in the digital camera world.

I don't work for Nikon (which is a shame). I know of Nikon because of the long-term experience I have with using their products.

Today, I'm celebrating my D40 milestone by taking more pictures. I wonder how long it will take me to get to the 20,000 picture?

Look What's Blooming at Our House

Daylilies, of course! My DH is a collector of plants. Our yard is filled with these luscious blooms. I took these pictures during the late evening hours. I am now using Aperture mode on my camera. Most of the pictures were taken f/8 aperture...give or take 1 or 2 stops.

This first picture is my favorite.


















I enjoy taking close-up shots to capture the beauty. Can you imagine if I didn't zoom in, how bland the pictures would have been?

The only changes I've made to these pictures is the file size, slight cropping, and adding my copyright. I let my camera do all the work. Apparently, it's doing a great job. :)

Camera: Nikon D40
Lens: 18mm-200mm
Flash: None

At the Arboretum

A few weeks ago DH and I took a trip to the National Arboretum in Washington, DC. We were on a mission to take pictures of the beautiful conifers in the Gotelli Collection. I'm still going through the hundreds of pictures we took that day.

After our photo shoot, we drove around the Arboretum and stopped at the "Columns". We came across a wonderful surprise that I wanted to share with you:

Aren't they adorable?


One of them got excited to get its picture taken that he fell over:

Chick overboard!


A quick flap and he's dried off:

Drying off


Lesson learned...keep away from the edge


Camera: Nikon D40
Lens: 18mm-200mm
Flash: none

Viburnums...A Sweet Scent

This past weekend, I was captivated by the sweet scent from our front porch. It's that time of year again. Spring is in the air.

I cut a few branches from two of our Viburnum shrubs. DH will have to provide the common and latin names later. I was placing them in one of my old paint jars (from my watercolor days), when I had a photog moment. I grabbed my camera and snapped a few shots. These were taken in natural light from a window.

Focal length: 60 mm


Focal length: 130 mm


I love it when I can capture a moment without flash. I found that light from a window is a wonderful source for taking those natural pictures. Give it a try. :)


Camera: Nikon D40
Lens: 18mm-200mm
Flash: none
Photoshop: resize for web

How To Series...Coming Soon

I started this blog with the intent of sharing my pictures, photography experiences, and tips. Here it sits neglected, but not for long. With Spring in the air and many bulbs and trees are in bloom, I'm coming out of hibernation to do a few posts on how to take better pictures. I have a lot of ideas in my head right now and need to take my camera along with me.

Stay tuned as I collect my thoughts and pictures for future posts.

Happy Spring!

A Trip to DC

DB and I took the Metrorail into DC. I brought my flash with me, but decided not to use it. Lately, I've been intrigued with pictures taken without flash. Just normal interior daylight pictures. So, I wanted to see if I could last the whole day without using the flash. It was quite easy to do. Today was overcast/cloudy. The sun was hiding from us.

Our first stop was Union Station. There were plenty of shops and plenty of places to eat. There were a lot more folks visiting the eateries than they were shopping in the stores. Sign of the times.

Union Station was opened in 1907, but completed in 1908. In the following pictures, you will see some of the 22-karat leaf adorned ceilings. The design and architecture of this place (e.g. curves) is truly amazing.

Main Hall at Union Station


One of the side atrium entrances with shops

Another view of the ceiling with the gold leaf. Center Cafe in the middle.

Entrance to B. Smith restaurant. Known as the Presidential Suite of Union Station.


Inside the East Hall. Interesting artwork along the upper edges of the walls.

We head down to Chinatown to find a place to eat. So many restaurants have shut down over the years.

Chinatown arch

The noodle man


After lunch, we head down 7th street in search of the International Spy Museum. We eye spy it two blocks away.

It took less than 2 hours to cover this museum. All I can say is Wow! There's a lot to see, read, and take in at this museum. Of course, no photography was allowed here.

The International Spy Museum building


It was raining when we finally finished touring the Spy Museum and headed out. We ran across the street to the National Portrait Gallery Museum. We were allowed to take pictures in some of the art galleries. I decided not to take a chance and let others enjoy without the sound of the shutter release or having a flash go off.

We ventured up to the 3rd level of the museum and found a wonderful surprise, a huge hall.

National Portrait Gallery - 3rd floor entrance into the Great Hall

National Portrait Gallery Great Hall - view looking south

National Portrait Gallery Great Hall - view looking north

National Portrait Gallery Great Hall- main entrance/exit 3rd level

National Portrait Gallery - stained glass window


I still have some issues working with my 18mm-200mm lens. I've been noticing some distortion in my pictures. What I see as being straight, there's a slight curve. It appears when I take pictures around 18mm.

Camera: Nikon D40
Lens: 18mm-200mm
Flash: None
Media card used: San Disk Extreme III - 4GB