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.
Today was in many ways meant to be a great day, I was finally picking up my D300 from it’s latest (and very lengthy) visit to Nikon Australia (see here) and then I spent the day with a very good friend. Also on the list of things to do was to deal with some of the issues that have cropped up whilst I was away in Hobart last week (trip report + pictures to come soon).
The day started well, with picking up my poor D300 at Foto Riesel Camera House (who have been great). I dropped off the Velvia 50 (slide film shot on my F80 whilst in Hobart) for processing as well as grabbing a replacement Nikon LC-52 lens cap (I lost one off my 50mm f/1.8 whilst in Hobart). Unfortunately I did not get anywhere with a replacement Tamron DA09 lenshood (for the Tamron SP 17-50mm f/2.8 – mine picked up a large crack in Hobart).
But the bitterness really struck when a filthy, no good lowlife stole my friends treasured D80 from her bag at the end of the day whilst on the ferry back from Manly. The camera was at the top of my friend bag, which was sitting next to my bag on the seat opposite to us on the ferry. We must have both drifted off for a few minutes when it happened, but that is often all it takes.
For me it is a shock, I have often been very trusting, leaving gear in plain sight etc, but this event really shakes my belief that people are inherently good, maybe it is not so. How do you walk up to someone’s bag and take out a large camera in broad daylight and then walk away with it? Surely, even on a quiet ferry there are enough people around to keep an eye out for such occurrences. I know I was tired but I was drifting in and out of sleep on the ferry ride back, how gutsy would it have been to risk being caught??
Take heed, and ensure all your belongings are close by and any valuables hidden from prying eyes whenever you are out.
PS. that D80 has been reported to the Police and a serial number has been provided…so if it goes through a 2nd hand shop, chances are it will be found. We live in hope……slim hope
I have been roaming around a bit more and just thought I would share some of my latest photos. I think everyone is getting a bit sick of the Tokina 10-17mm fisheye, but unfortunately I am still carrying it in my bag and it is coming out a fair bit. Here are two new outings, the first was to go and see Sculptures by the Sea at Bondi Beach, where the Fuji S5 Pro got the honours of tackling the fast fading light.
NOTE: I finally caved and installed FinePix Studio…and have to admit that it is no where near as good as Capture NX2, but it did give me a bit more flexibility with my RAF processing (RAF is Fuji RAW).
I managed to take a few pictures today on the way home from work, and a few more tonight when the moon was out and playing hide and seek using the cloud cover. The D60 combined with the Tokina and my trusty Tamron 70-300 were used here.
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.
Apologies to anyone who is on a slow connection. This is going to be a pretty big post with quite a few pictures.
Firstly I just wanted to a few more pics from my trip up to the Blue Mountains, these include a 9 shot HDR (using Photomattix) of Siloam Pool, and a few panos (stitched using Auto Pano Pro) taken from Echo Point and Gordon Falls. All of these shots were taken using my D300 + MB-10 and Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 mounted on my Manfrotto 714B with my Phottix Ball Head. This set up is light enough to carry when hiking, but tripod and head combination really is a bit too light for the load of the camera.
Next up is a series of black and white conversions I did of the beautiful cakes and coffee from Lindt Cafe, Darling Harbour. These were taken using my D60 and the RAW files processed using Capture NX2.
Finally, I wanted to share a few shots that I took whilst I was out at Fiesta at Darling Harbour. I was feeling like a film day so I am yet to see a lot of the results as they are still sitting on Pan F 50 inside my FM2n, but I was smart enough to have brought my D300 with me. So there I was snapping pics on both cameras using a Series E 50mm f/1.8 and my AI Nikkor 135mm f/2.8.
