Well, here is hoping I was wrong, and that the D90 is about to be announced July 1. Nikon Rumors believes it confirmed that a full frame D300 and a couple of primes are coming July 1. They are also holding out that the D90 will be announced on that day. Here’s hoping. I have been hoarding my pennies for a few months now. I wonder when it will be available, even if it is announced then.
Category Archives: Photography
I need more speed Scottie
I was out at a family event, on a farm in Rochester with several families and more than a dozen kids. I decided to make myself the family photographer, as it gave me something to do. I was using my Nikor 55-200 f4-5.6 to get pictures of the kids. It was great during the day, but as the evening came, and the sun started going down I was getting frustrated.
In shadow, I could no longer shoot at ISO 200 with any sensible speed. I was down to a shutter speed of 50-60. Too slow to get kids. I bumped the ISO up to 400 then 800, but the shutter was still slower than I wanted. The lens is just too slow.
What are the options? Not much. The Nikor 70-200 VR f2.8 is huge, with a huge price tag of $1700. Yikes. Sigma has one with similar specs, no VR for about $800. Getting better. Even still, this wish item is likely to stay a wish.
Lowepro FastPack 250
Happy Fathers Day to me! ( Oh, to you to Dad. ) So, this Fathers Day I was presented with a new pack. I love getting camera accessory gifts! This is a great pack. Thanks Annie and Kids. Click “more” to read more.
You can’t take pictures here
This happened earlier this spring, but I didn’t have my blog going then, and I am just getting around to posting now.
So what constitutes public property? I was wandering around work looking for things to take pictures of near by. I saw a couple of motorcycles parked at the side of a building, so I walked down a sidewalk between the Law Enforcement Center (a county building) and a parking lot. I had just taken this picture :
when a police officer asked what I was doing. I said I was just taking pictures, and she said it was private property. I politely told her sorry, I thought that the land surrounding a county building would be public. She pointed at the one arm bandit gate on the parking lot and said this parking lot was private property and you had to have a parking pass to be here. I didn’t feel like arguing with the officer, but I didn’t follow the argument, so I left.
I am starting to hear of all sorts of stories about photographers getting hassled taking pictures. Don’t even think about using a tripod. See Scott Kelby’s story here.
I got directed to PhotoPermit.org that has lots of stories and info about getting and trying to avoid being hassled by security guards or police.
There is a great PDF on a photographers rights here. Just don’t expect to be left alone for waving this paper around.
Where is the new D80/D90?
Nikon last released the D60, before that the D300, and before that the D40x/D40. I have the D40. What’s next? I am hoping it is a refreshed D80. Call it a D90. The rumors have been flying recently for a release this month, June. Nikon has released quite a bit recently, so thinking of a D90 in June seems a bit premature, but that seems to be the prevailing wind. The D80 is two years old now, so people think it is time for an upgrade. I think that Nikon has had it’s hands full taking over the bottom end of the spectrum. I think that September is more likely. Why? That is when the next big photo show is. Photokina 2008 is in September in Germany. Last year this show was where the D60 was released. It will make the D80 long in the tooth, and I am hoping for sooner rather than later, as this rumored camera is targeted as my next purchase.
Night time flickr walk
It was awhile ago now, but I got to go on a night time flickr walk in St. Paul with some people from the twincities flickr group. It was fun. I got to meet some neat people, and got to try taking pictures at night, which I almost never do. Some of them turned out pretty good. Here is a couple. More on flickr.
Where’s the Aperture Love
Several of the blogs and books I see on photography talk about Photoshop (full, not Elements, but that’s another post) and Lightroom. Not Aperture. I realize that Aperture only runs on a Mac, and Lightroom runs on both Windows and Macs, but information on the web is scarce. I tried to come up with a list. This is all I have.
- Inside Aperture
- Aperture Users Professional Network
- Apple’s Tutorials
- Aperture Plugged In
- Bagelturf – a blogger
- Gunther Deichamann Photography – a blogger
Thats it. Really? All of those sites have links to each other, and no where else I can find. What gives? Where is the info on settings for best sharpening results, or how to get different looks out of your pictures. I have read articles on using Lightroom for this recently, but I have trouble transferring the knowledge over. Anyone know other resources?
Support your local camera.
I have a tripod. I bought a Slik Sprint Pro a while back. It was a tough decision. I didn’t have the money for carbon, so I was pretty much left with, kinda light, but not the most stable, or kinda heavy, and quite stable. I went for the kinda light option. I figured that if I got something too heavy, I wouldn’t take it anywhere. What good would that be?
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Backup Strategy
Scott Kelby just posted his backup strategy, and I thought I would follow up with mine.
The thing that is really interresting about Scott and my solutions, is that there are a lot of similarities. But mine cost a lot less.
His first step is to save on location to an Epson P-500 (link). That would be cool. I have looked at those wistfully before. I don’t have anything comparable. I don’t travel as much as he does, so I just have to put in my empty card and go from there.
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The Trees are Blooming
There are some trees along the Minnehaha Parkway bike path that bloom and then lose their flowers for just a couple of days each year. I was hoping to get them this year. Friday I rode my bike to work, and took my camera with me. It just so happened that that was the day! I wasn’t super happy with any of them in the end, but here is one:
