More Catchlights

Julie

Nikon D40x

Nikkor 105mm

SB-800, camera right, shot through umbrella, large, bright window, camera left.

Lookie, lookie, I captured some decent catchlights! Well, it doesn't take much to excite me.

My friend and coworker, Julie, volunteered to be my guinea pig yesterday because (at work) we finally got a shoot-through umbrella, light stand and universal umbrella holder so I can use my Speedlight off-camera. Well, I have a long way to go, but I hope to learn and improve as I go along. I have at least two more gals from work who have volunteered to let me practice on them and my hubby said he will too.

we are havin' fun now!

Gentle

Exposure:0.003 sec (1/400)
Aperture:f/5
Lens: : Micro-NIKKOR 105 mm f/2.8G IF-ED
ISO Speed:200
Exposure Bias:0/6 EV

Programmed Auto

My grandson and I went to a butterfly house yesterday. I got a few decent shots, but nothing that makes me go "WOW!" so I was a little discouraged and ready to sell all my equipment and give up. ha ha That's what I used to do in the old film days. Because with film, it cost so much money to find out you suck. Now it's free to find out. Anyway, I will not quit. What's bothering me the most is the shallow DOF on this lens. Surely, when photographing butterflies, you want to be very close AND you also want ALL of the butterfly in focus. It seems the closer you are to your subject with this lens, the shallower the DOF. That works with some subjects, but not butterflies. So, I need to figure out what to do to get in close and get the whole subject in focus. Next assigment!

If you're interested, you can view my butterfly set on Flickr.

Butterflies - Flying Flowers

Camera:Nikon D40X
Exposure:0.002 sec (1/500)
Aperture:f/5.6
Lens:Nikon 105 mm

City Skyline

Taken just before sunrise on August 6, 2008. This photo was taken on the job. One of my "other duties as assigned" is photo-documenting a large construction project we have going on. I wanted to get something different than my usual roof photo, and it was the last big concrete pour, so I decided to come in before sun-up and take some night shots. When they do these big pours, they start before sunrise and they light the area with huge spot lights. My idea was to photograph the pour and capture the sunburst effect around the lights. Well, that didn't work because, #1. the lights were facing away from me #2 I think they would have been too bright for the slow shutter speed that's required to get that effect. Anyway, I still got some interesting shots with the light and a slow enough shutter speed to allow in the ambient light. Then we stayed on the roof long enough to get some shots with the sun coming up. I think this was the most fun I've had at work, ever!!