Good-bye to 2009

There are some years that you are simply glad have come to and end, this is one for me. I have had many ups and downs and have no real cause to complain as I could be far worse off - and many people are. My health is good, both physically and spiritually, nothing else matters to some degree.

My photographic skills seems to be very sharp, I need to keep my eye exercised every day.

I caught these images as I drove by DeLong Farms field as the sun had began its disappearing act, seemed like a good metaphor to the end of a year as the sun sets on 2009.

Happy New Year!

Brrrrrr! It's cold!

I am no fan of his kind of weather, when it gets down to -15 degrees at night and not a whole lot warmer during the day, plus the usual wind chill factor. It can be an interesting time to take photographs, though, if you can bear it.

My car is usually running not too far away when I get these types of images. Taken with the D40 and both Nikkor zooms.

A few from Christmas Day, 2009

No, these files are not really "Christmasy," but appeal to me. I visited some friends in the Chester Basin area, the drive to their home has some nice streams and lakes that seem to look nice any time of the year.

D40 and 70-300mm VR.

Merry Christmas

The Dartmouth Nova Scotia stake holds their annual nativity pageant a during the last few nights before Christmas very year. It's a great opportunity for the public as they get to see a taste of the Church and watch a stirring short but sweet dramatization of the events surrounding the birth of our Lord so many years ago in the most humble of circumstances.

Tuesday night was the first performance, the weather was ideal. I knew I'd need the Sigma 50-150mm f/2.8 as I wanted to capture the mood and ambiance of the scene without the intrusion of a flash. The quality at ISO 1600 on the D40 is good but noise is really unavoidable.

The close-up of the special Birthright parents was a technical success - I used the combination of the SB-800 flash and ambient light very effectively.

Merry Christmas to everyone!

Our first real blast of winter

The snow started around 1pm, yesterday, we got about 15 cm or so, maybe more, but it was mostly powdery. The roads were fairly clear on my drive to work, but our parking lot was not plowed at when I normally arrive - so, with camera close by it meant I had some time to kill as I saw the backhoe doing its job before I could park.

I grabbed the D40 and 70-300mm VR and went off in search of some nice images. I ended up on the "new" bridge in Bridgewater, the ice floes were unusually colorful and had aesthetic formations. As always, the Vibration Reduction did its magic (these were hand held at 1/30th second), they are very sharp.

Bring on the next storm I say!

The Pane of Love

Our local high school put on their annual showcase, consisting of a band concert intermixed with a freshly-written original play. The five-act production provided some great photo opportunities. I know from my days of shooting with compacts that ISO 800 was needed for the stage lighting, and the D40 and Sigma 50-150mm f/2.8 was the perfect combination. The jury is still out (for me) if I like the lighting of the shadow background, I used D-Lighting to bring out the details I processed all the NEF's this way, I may go back and leave the backgrounds black.

Exposures were 1/160th sec @ f/2.8, just barely able to stop some slight motion.

A few from Saturday

It was wickedly windy on the weekend, Saturday was the worst day. Still, I felt I could record some decent images and even capture some drama with the water, moving or frozen. I had he D40 and fast zooms with me, as I anticipated needing these lenses at our ward Christmas party.

Anyway, I was happy with the results.

Rainbow

I haven't had the best of luck capturing rainbows, espcially since they are so fleeting and require you to be at the right place at the right time. Yesterday, one of my co-workers alerted me to a rather colorful rainbow that had formed with the mix of sun and rain we were experiencing. I quickly grabbed the D40 and attached the 70-300mm VR, and went crazy. I was happy to get a few workable files and applied by "Velvia" work flow to enhance them.

This is yet another example of how important it is to have a camera with you at all times.

Dawn in New Germany

I was just heading out of my little community when I nailed a few lucky shots as I sped past the Rosedale Home for Seniors. I had shot a bunch of files at ISO 800 (by mistake), they probably would have been decent, albeit too noisy, but I was able to re-shoot and be satisfied.

D40 and 70-300mm VR.

King Street in early winter

I ventured out on an early Monday morning for a quickie walk, I as able to get a few decent files. As always, a little PP helps bring out the colors. D40 and 70-300mm VR.

Another perspective - Christmas tree capital of the world

The good folks in Lunenburg County pride themselves on making the claim that we are the Christmas tree capital of the world. A popular activity is the U-pick where the customers goes and picks his or her tree, it gets bailed, then it ends up coming home. With less than three weeks before the big day, many people visited this tree farm.

I had my "fast" glass kit with me (Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 and Sigma 50-150mm f/2.8) and set out to capture interesting people and doggie photos, I hope I succeeded. The D80 and SB-800 completed the package, such a dull day made it necessary to use fill-flash.

I am an unabashed fan of big blue eyes, I found lots of those at this event.