Scout Images

I had an interesting day photographically. This morning I headed over to a friends place to have my widened by the many different coffee’s available. Being an occasional coffee drinker, I knew there were different types of coffees but didnt realise how different they are.

Much later this evening I shot my friends car. This car has been his pride and joy for the last 18months slowly being converted from a stock standard Peugeot 206 to a mean little show car with a bark and a bite that he has dubbed the “GTX”. However he is moving on and will be selling the car to finance something a bit larger and more practical to his changing needs. For these photos I used a variety of lenses (AF-S 24-70mm f/2.8, AF-S 70-200mm f/2.8 VR, Tokina 10-17mm fisheye) on my Nikon D300. Lighting was provided by my trusty Wolfeyes Defender 260 and my SB-800 and SB-600 speedlights.

It has been a while since I have uploaded anything (well 9 days in fact) so I thought I would share some of the adventures that I have been up to.

Yesterday, I headed to the Australian Museum to see the Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition, which included an interactive photo studio component this year. Armed with my Nikon D60, Nikkor AF-S 35mm f/1.8 and Sigma 180mm f/3.5 Macro I headed in. A prime kit? Between these two lenses I have everything I want, from close focus ability to candid captures, throw in the SB-400 and the Phottix Duo Cable I am ready to take on anything.

That evening I attended the DSLRusers/ex-SURCAS/current SURCAS fire night, an event that I had organised with the help of my friends from SURCAS. Although I was officially there as part of the photographic party, I was too tempted with the thoughts of playing with fire and spent a fair bit of time with the staff in hand. My D300 spent most of the night in the company of the Tamron SP 17-50mm f/2.8 and my Manfrotto 055 Pro B/322RC2 combo. The Tokina 10-17 fisheye and Nikkor AF-S 70-200mm f/2.8 VR also made appearances.

It has been a busy few days for me, with Christmas coming up I have been working more in my retail day job but this has not meant that I have not been able to find time to pursue my photographic interests.

Firstly, I wanted to share some photos that were taken over the last few days, whilst heading into the city and USYD at night and then Mittagong the following day.

After this I swapped a lot of my Nikon gear for some Canon gear (refer here for the status of my kit including loan gear) to brush up on my Canon usage in preparation for some workshops requested by some Canon users. So I was out and about with a 400D and some lenses today.

You may have noticed that I have been very busy and have not been posting much over the last fortnight (until last night that is) so I thought I would apologise once more and share with you images of my recent travels.

Firstly, I headed off to Kanangra Boyd National Park (beyond the Blue Mountains and Jenolan Caves) with members of my old lab group from USYD. This was not a photographic expedition, but rather a scientific field trip to collect lizards to continue the work on the evolution of viviparity (live birth) – yes this was the broad subject for my honours year. As it was not a photographic trip, I restricted myself to bringing only my Fuji S5 Pro (the D300 was still with Nikon Australia), Tamron SP 17-50mm f/2.8 and Phottix Geo One.

Soon afterwards (literally a two day break) I headed off to Kiama with some friends for an overnight getaway. However, the weather was not quite smiling down upon me so I did not get a lot of good photos. With me on this trip I brought along my Nikon D60, Nikon F80 (shooting Velvia 50), SB-400, Phottix Duo Cord, Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8, Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8, Nikkor 50mm f/1.8 as well as the Tokina 10-17mm fisheye.

Then after a single day at home, I headed down to Hobart for a four day trip. This trip was meant to be pretty photo intensive, so between myself and my younger sister we had the entire kitchen sink bringing the, Fuji S5 Pro + Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8, Sigma 180mm Macro, Nikon D60, Nikon F80 (shooting Velvia 50 and Superia 200), Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8, Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8VR, Nikkor 50mm f/1.8, Tokina 10-17mm fisheye, as well as the Phottix Duo Cord, Phottix Geo One and my trusty Nikon SB-400. This four day trip can be roughly split between four events:

Mt Wellington – standing behind Hobart, this landmark provides some great views of the city and surrounds

Cascade Brewery – Australia’s oldest continuously operating brewery, a great tour and some great drinks, I really enjoyed their Mercury Cider and the Cascade Lager (only available in TAS).

Bruny Island – untouched wilderness, some animal encounters and a hell of a ride in a 1400Bhp, 14m boat.

Salamanca Markets – a must see, a mix of craft and food and a great way to spend a day

I have only posted digital images taken with the D60 (as my younger sister was using the S5 Pro) with film images from the Superia 200 and the Velvia 50 to come if I have time.

Lastly, I thought I would share a few images from today’s bittersweet adventure where I welcomed back my trusty D300 but my good friend lost her D80.

Another trip to the Zoo and this Zoo Friends pass is really starting to get a workout. This time with so much gear out…including my 70-200mm f/2.8 VR and my D300 I decided to try very different kit just to see how it would go. So on this grey, wet day out came the Nikon D60, Sigma 180mm Macro and the Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8. Shooting alongside me was a friend Marcus (Photomarcs) with his Canon EOS 1000D, Sigma 24-70mm f/2.8 and Sigma 18-200mm OS.

Enough gear talk…here are a few images.

As mentioned before (here, here and here) I have finally gotten around to taking a few pictures of my new toys, the AI Nikkor 135mm f/2.8 and the Tokina AT-X DX 107 AF 10-17mm Fisheye. Since my Nikon D300 is away (yet again…refer here) so the Fuji S5 Pro has been pressed into service. The gear used?

• 75cm x 75cm x 75cm light tent (sorry I have to iron the backgrounds but couldnt be bothered this morning)
• SB-800 and SB-600 (at 45 deg to light the light tent, controlled using CLS)
• Sigma 180mm macro, Nikkor AF-S 24-70mm f/2.8, Tamron SP 17-50mm f/2.8

I got carried away and did some more images of my other lenses as well.

I have been using my new (new to me) AI Nikkor 135mm f/2.8 and have been nothing short of impressed by what it can do. This experience has got me thinking and wanting more older style lenses….primes and manual focus primes. With the quality that is obtainable with zoom lenses it seems rather silly to be thinking about old manual focus primes, but after using the 135mm it has dawned on me that these lenses are of another breed.

The manual focus prime is a lot smaller, more compact and lighter than their modern brethen. Using primes forces you to be more careful with your compostion, drives your creativity and the need to manual focus adds to the care that is taken for each shot.

My usage of the 135mm brings me back to the days when I was first learning to shoot SLR (on an old FM2) and the pleasure of the precision that the MF demands means every shot that works brings a great sense of satisfaction. My only true MF lens at the moment is the AI 135mm f/2.8 but the build quality and precision is simply mind blowing.

Coincidently, the lens that this 135mm is looking like displacing is actually another prime…the AF Nikkor 50mm f/1.8D. I can now proudly say that I own three prime lenses (AI 135mm f/2.8, AF-D 50mm f/1.8, EX 180mm f/3.5 HSM) and two of these are my two favourite lenses that I own.

Whilst I am not going to ditch my auto focus zooms, I think there will always be room in my kit for a good MF prime or two. I will definitely look into getting some more MF primes in the future when my budget allows for this.

In the mean time…..anyone want:

• Tamron 28-105mm f/2.8 (big, nice range, does hunt a little – I really dont need this lens as I have the AF-S Zoom-Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8)
• Sigma 180mm f/3.5 Macro (I am tempted to downsize this to a Tamron 90mm, AF-S Micro-Nikkor 105VR or head for the Tamron 180mm f/3.5)

Only serious offers will be considered.

I just thought I would share some pictures that I have taken recently. This first set was taken during a Breakfast meeting at Badde Manors (Glebe) with my trusty little Fujifilm FinePix F100fd. I have to admit that the food was as good as it looked.

Here are some pictures from today, I went for a walk around Darling Harbour, visiting the Brazilian Festival before heading over for a roam of the Rocks.  Once again I found myself with the wrong set up (it seems to be a happening a lot more often these days when I decide to go for a roam) having brought the Sigma 180mm macro instead of the Nikkor AF-S 70-200mm f/2.8 VR, however I did manage to get some decent shots with the Sigma used as a telephoto (one of the key reasons why I picked the Sigma 180mm over the Tamron 180mm – the slightly faster AF speed).

It has been a bit of quite period for me, with work and other commitments severely limiting the amount of time that I have to take photos. But there were some flowers at home this week so I took out the big Sigma EX 180mm f/3.5 and snapped  a few shots. Just whilst I was at it I decided to play with a watch that was given to me as a present.

These were taken using my D300 and my Manfrotto 055PRO B + 355RC2.

I just thought I would follow up on my experiences with the Lowepro Inverse 200 AW after mentioning this purchase here, and here.

As we do, I was and still am looking for a bag to fit a very tough spec, mine being:

• very comfortable to wear for long periods of time
• quick access to gear and for lens changes
• carry, one large SLR + grip + lens, one large telephoto lens and a flash (in my case either a D300 + MB-D10 + Nikkor AF-S 24-70mm f/2.8 or a Fuji S5 Pro + Nikkor AF-S 24-70mm f/2.8, either the Nikkor AF-S 70-200mm f/2.8 VR or the Sigma 180mm f/3.5 macro)

In order to do this the only logical way is to store the long lens vertically. ENTER the INVERSE, being a beltpack with a shoulder strap, comfort and accessibility are no problem. According to Lowepro fitting a 70-200VR attached to camera is an option, and with an internal height of 21.5cm, things are looking promising…..more