I spent Saturday afternoon with my sister and brother-in-law waitng the entire afternoon to take shots of my niece and nephew for the family holiday card. My BIL took good care of me by providing a fine europen wheat beer.
Before taking the real pictures, I captured this moment...a favorite!!!
Last Thursday evening the weather was absolutely amazing here in Los Angeles. I grabbed the camera around 7:30 and proceeded on a 4 hour photo walk through Santa Monica. I did not snap a ton of pictures...but the night scenes I captured I am very happy with. I plan to take some similar shots when the sun is going down to capture the same scenes with different lighting elements...until then enjoy these long exposure shots...
Tonight I was able to get down to my favorite spot and take some sunset photos in Santa Monica...I must have taken 200 shots. I think my favorite has to be this one with the pier reflecting off the water. It was a little scary setting my tripod in the shallow (calm) water and getting my pants wet and sandy...well worth it, but scary with a new DSLR about a foot and a half away from a watery death. Thankfully camera and I are fine...a few more for now...
Well...I did not get out and shoot as much as I had anticipated. I did manage to stop by a friends house this afternoon and I have always wanted to take pictures of his two gorgeous cats...fantastic light in his house, gorgeous cats and my new camera and 85mm made for some fantastic shots!
I recieved my 85mm 1.8 lens yesterday from B&H via UPS. I had a little scare when the UPS driver handed me the package with a concerend look on his face:
I expected the worst but was pleasantly surpirised. B&H did a wonderful job preparing the lens for UPS "White Glove Delivery Service". The lens was perfect and I am very pleased with the quality of images I get from this lens...I can't wait to use it more today!
My new camera is here!!! It arrived a couple of days ago and I sure am glad I decided to upgrade! With the sale of my beloved Rebel XT and my 50mm, a $120 Amazon credit, $240 Canon rebate and $50 cash back from Discover card it was too hard to pass up a $240 out of pocket upgrade. $240 out of pocket until last night when I won $1,000 playing poker!!!!
Heh...I haven't had anytime to really shoot...and I have been busy reading the manual so look for more pictures coming soon...perhaps this weekend when I take the new 85mm out for a spin!
It is hard to believe that it is just over a year that we returned from our trip to Italy. We took over 1,200 photos with a Canon S50 point and shoot. After meeting fellow American Timothy Scheck in Tuscany I was envous of his brand new DSLR, a Nikon D70 that he had. We found a common interest photography...we talked about a variety of subjects...I knew when I returned to the states I needed to kick it up a notch. So upon my return home a did my due diligence and quickly learned that it was a coin flip between Nikon and Canon. Once you buy into the brand and invest in glass you are pretty much married to the brand. Both manufacturers produce fantastic gear. I really liked the compact size and all the features packed into the small body of the XT...the fall rebates also pushed me towards Canon.
I can not say I regret my decision one bit. After mastering the controls of the XT, and then holding other Canon camera I knew as fantastic as the Rebel XT's are, I needed the solid build quality, and fantastic controls of either a 30D or 5D...I would love a full frame 5D, but budget wise...the wife would kill me if I spent so much on a camera...especially with a new edition on the way.
With a heavy heart I took a few shots of my XT and associated gear and embarked on a journey to find a new home, and good owner for my baby. I think I accomplised that. I sold my XT this evening. I am sure the new owenr will take as good care of my XT as I did. I hope mynew owner has the same satisfaction as did I when they return home from a day of shooting and see the results from this mighty little camera.
So, on Sunday morning I will be ordering a replacement 30D...hopefully I will have my new camera within a week. I doubt I will change the name of my blog...I would like to keep the 350XT in the name as a tribute to the camera that basically kicked my photography skill level up a notch. 350XT you may be gone but will never be forgotten.
There is nothing more beautiful than the east coast during the fall! My wife and I decided to kill two birds with one stone...visit her family and enable me to capture some east coast fall shots. Unfotunatley our October schedules only allowed us to travel this past weekend...it was still a week or two away from prime fall colors...but fantastic regardless.
I took a solo ride out to to the Bear Mountain Bridge at the suggestion of my brother-in-law. I scouted the area late Sunday but did not capture the bridge...I did venture back the next morning with my pregnant wife in tow...she is quite the trooper! I captured some excellent shots but have not gotten around to processing them.
Saturday afternoon I met a very nice gentlemen named Lee. He is the proprietor of The Koi Farm in beautiful Washingtonville. He saw me snapping some pictures of pumpkins and a gorgeous gazebo on his property and started talking photography. He is a Nikon D70 user, and Lee, if you are reading...I did not get a chance to make it to the bridge with the train tracks...next trip!
Not only did I get some great landscapes, but I also captured a very nice shot of my wifes friends daughter checking in on her new baby sister...perhaps one of my favorite kids shots so far:
Thats it for now...I hope to update the blog with more photos in the next day or two!
