I spent the day with a friend trying our hand at capturing smoke trails, finally settling on the combination of off camera flash (thanks Phottix Duo Cable + SB-400, my friend has a D60 so CLS was not really going to be useful for him) and a candle+match.
I used my Nikon D300 and Tamron SP 17-50mm f/2.8 for these photos with some photo editing done in Photoshop CS2 and Capture NX2.
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.
Over the last week or so I have not had much time to take photos (been trying to get this website up and running again) but I did manage to get a few shots in last night at dinner and today at the Fish Market and in Glebe. So here are a few shots that I thought I would share.
These were taken with my Nikon D60 and the Nikkor AF-S 24-70mm f/2.8. Some of the photos in this gallery used the Phottix Duo Cord + Nikon SB-400 combination as well.
On another note, my venerable Nikon F80D is out on loan again, this time accompanied by my Tamron SP 28-205mm f/2.8 and my Nikkor AF-D 28-80mm. This means my current gear status is….
Firstly I would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas (or commercial holiday if your inclined to call it that) and a Happy New Year. I hope that you all will have a happy, safe and relaxing break over this holiday period. I have had a very busy lead up into this period and will be looking to take a bit of break over this period, however I will be try continue to post updates.
I have done an evaluation of my current arsenal (details here, locations here) and am quite pleased to say that despite the foul luck I have had over this year, I have come into the holiday period with few casualties. My Nikon D300 comes into this period in pretty good shape having just been serviced, finally fixing the LCD issue, save for a damaged viewfinder eyecup (DK-23) for which a replacement has been ordered. The only other stand out’s are my Tamron SP 17-50mm f/2.8 (Model A16N) which is still awaiting the arrival of a replacement DA09 lenshood, to replace my damaged one.
Sadly, my Fujifilm FinePix F100fd is now listed as MIA (Missing In Action) as its current location is uncertain. I really hope it is found soon, otherwise I will be tracking down another to replace it (to keep my WP-FXF100 useful otherwise I will be out for another underwater casing).
Finally, I thought I would share some of my recent images taken whilst out with some friends at night.
I headed off to Taronga Zoo yesterday, taking with me my D300, 70-200VR and for the first time my Tamron 70-300mm. Another first for me was watching the free flight bird show. Here are some of the photos that I took on the day, but click through to the full gallery to view all the stars of the show. I managed to get some nice pictures of my favourite snow leopard.
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.
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?
I got carried away and did some more images of my other lenses as well.
It is true that a proper macro lens does a great job when your getting up close and personal, that is why we spend lots of money on them. BUT what happens when you dont have one on you?
I was out and about today with dad (keeping the Father’s Day thing rolling today) so I was travelling light (Nikon D60, Tamron SP 17-50mm f/2.8, Tamron 70-300mm and Nikkor AF-D 50mm f/1.8). Being the beginning of spring in Sydney I couldnt resist but to have a walk down to the Botanical Gardens in the afternoon. The flowers were in bloom and there were plenty of nice shots to be had. With my Sigma 180mm macro sitting very usefully at home, I had to fall back on what I did prior to owning a macro lens: I always carry a Marumi close up filter set for my 50mm f/1.8 and my Tamron 70-300mm has a 1:2 macro ability (not great quality but it gets the job done). Here are some of my photos from the day.
Tamron has announced a new version of my treasured SP 17-50mm f/2.8 with the built in motor and Vibration Compensation (VC – Tamron’s alphabet soup for VR).
I love my exisiting 17-50mm f/2.8 (A16N) and dont personally think I will be switiching to this new model designated SP AF17-50mm F/2.8 XR Di-II VC LD Aspherical (IF) (B005) looks very interesting and the initial chatter suggests that there is a new optical formula. This means that we should be able to safely assume that Tamron has tweaked the lens (hopefully for the better).
I resisted going from my screwdriver driven A16N to the built in motor A16NII as the focus speed of the lens dropped considerably compared to the screwdriver on my D300. Now that I have a D60 as a light weight body this new lens will be in my thoughts if I ever have to replace my A16N.
I have just come home from a meet where we experimented with the technique of light painting. Using various light sources, including high powered LED torches (my Wolf Eyes Defender 260) and camera flashes (SB-600 and SB-800) in conjunction with soft boxes we painted up a beautiful 1966 Ford Mustang. I used my both my D300 and D60 with my Manfrotto 055 ProB and that Phottix Ball head. The lenses of choice for this exercise were the Nikkor AF-S 24-70mm f/2.8 and the Tamron SP 17-50mm f/2.8.
There is still a bit of work to be done for this technique but getting some form of result was very rewarding!
