Reflection

It was a rainy morning, and the sun was just beginning to appear from behind the clouds. I happened to be next to a lake when this happened and I caught this in the reflection. You can see the circle of the sun in the slight break in the cloud cover. I caught it just in time, because 5 minutes later most of the clouds were gone and it was nothing but bright sunshine for the rest of the day.

F/5.6, 55mm, 1/800 s. Shot using my 18-55mm lens on Manual

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Waterfall

Water features. There are a lot of them throughout Florida. Personal, private, public, commercial, you name it, Florida has them all. This is a photo taken at my mother-in-law's house of the pond in her back yard. We were visiting for a week, and of course, brought the camera. I thought this would be a good opportunity to try out a long exposure and see what I came out with. I always love how water looks in long exposure pictures. Just looking at this picture makes me feel a bit calmer and more at peace. I wish I had my own water feature in my back yard. Until then, I'll have my pictures...

A Cute Four Legged Friend

Oh my! It seems it has been a couple of weeks since my last post. I was out on vacation for a bit, but now I'm back. I spent the last week down in Orlando, Florida. There was an abundance of critters, birds, and other things to take in and photograph. Over the next couple of posts, I will share some of those pictures with you, and as always, your thoughts and comments are always welcome.

Of the many critters and such to be found in Florida, these cute little guys are quite common. Some places you can find more of them than in others. They are quite hard to sneak up on and photograph though. You have to be quick (oh, and a longer lens helps too)!

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What's in My Bag

It seems that everyone wants to know what you're shooting with and all associated gear you've got.  I imagine that as I progress my skills as a photographer, I will add to what I currently carry around now. So, what do I use?

1. Nikon D3000


2. 18-55mm kit lens


3. 55-200mm zoom lens


4. Monopod


5. Tripod


6. LowePro Fastpack 100

That's more or less it. Of course, I have a wish list for things I would like to add, especially as I try out and learn new photographic techniques.

Some of the things I'd like to have:

1. Cokin Neutral Density filter kits


2. 5omm prime lens


3. A longer zoom lens


4. External Flash


5. External Flash trigger (I really want to get into off camera flash and try some one light pics)


6. Some California Sunbounces (or similar)

I'm sure there are other things I could want, but I don't want to go overboard and generally try to keep things simple. Also, I see no need to go into debt for this stuff, especially since it is not my full time job. I take to heart what Zack Arias talks about when he discusses what he uses and how he got where he is, and I truly respect what he says (and if you haven't seen his work, you should check it out... click here for Zack Arias' website).  Zack's biggest take away-- DO NOT GO IN TO DEBT FOR YOUR GEAR. Make do with what you have until you can afford what you want.  This also forces you to learn how to use what you have. And I know that I still have a lot to learn about how to properly use my camera and lenses to the best of my ability.

A River Runs

I went for a little hike (yes, a hike... it was about a mile to get to where this was taken) today for my lunch break. It was well worth it too. This was taken in Umstead Park off of the Old Company Mill trail. Apparently at one point there was a mill on this river that got flooded out. There are bits and pieces of it left, mainly a large rock wall and some shaped stones. Not much else. This picture was taken a few yards down from the site. Quite a peaceful area where I could spend many hours photographing and just relaxing. Too bad I didn't have all that much time today. I will have to go back for sure. This was taken at F/18 for 1/6s and -5.0 Exposure Compensation. One day I'll get some ND filters to help with my long exposures. :)

A Winter Flower

I found this the other day on one of my walks at the park. Since it is winter, most everything green is, well, brown. I thought it looked interesting. It looked okay in color, but I like it better in black and white. You may start to notice a trend, if you visit often, that many of the pictures I tend to post are black and whites. I'm not sure what it is about black and white photography that draws me to it. Anyway, thank you for stopping by!