a little birdie told me...

It's New Years!

Happy New Years everyone!

May this  coming year bring

good  health and  happiness 

to all who frequent this blog

Rise and Shine

I took this shot a couple of weeks ago with the Nikon P7700 shooting in the NRW or RAW format. I still haven't gotten the patch to work with photoshop for adjusting the RAW images so I am having to use View NX to look at the NRW/RAW file and then open it in photoshop as a jpeg. I can't say that I would recommend the RAW converter in View NX, it is very hard to get around in. Adobe wants to charge me $39 to talk to them on the phone and explain how to make their patch work. Needless to say, I sent them a nasty e-mail about wanting to charge me. I will eventually figure it out on my own.

Nikon 18-300 first impressions

Those of you who follow this blog have no doubt figured out by now from my last post, my wife and I gave each other what we ourselves really wanted for Christmas. It's a standing joke between us and works well as neither of us are ever disappointed with what the other gets from Santa!

This year "Santa" gave my wife a Nikon 18-300mm zoom lens haha! 

Just for the fun of it how much is 18mm to 300mm  zoom in a Nikon DX format camera? (27mm to 450mm equivalent in an FX camera)

18mm f 3.5 1/250 sec. ISO 400

50mm f 5.3 1/160 sec. ISO 400

300mm f 5.3 1/50 sec. ISO 400

Extreme crop of above picture.

In all three shots I was aiming at the bright yellow sign (which I could barely see). It was a dim overcast day and all my shots were handheld. Certainly not the best conditions for photography and unfortunately not the nicest pictures to show off this new lens with... Except for resizing the first three pictures are straight out of the camera, no post processing whatsoever.  

I took a number of other pictures all handheld at 300mm and was consistently able to get sharp clear results even at 1/30 second shutter speeds. The VR II works like a charm and the lens seems sharp at all focal lengths even without using a smaller aperture for the longer shots. One note, it did seem to take the VR a full second or two to stabilize especially at 300mm but this may have been due to the low light at the time I took these three shots.

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Here's another example from today. I've just stepped out of my truck and see a large bird several hundred feet away in the top of a tree... 

18mm f 8 1/250 sec. ISO 200

300mm f 5.3 1/800 sec. ISO 200

300mm picture cropped and cleaned up a bit in Photoshop.

Not bad for a handheld shot from approximately 300 feet away, imagine how good this picture would have been if I was only 50 or 100 feet away! So far this lens is exceeding my expectations in every way. Can't wait to get the new 24mp D7100 to go with this lens if Nikon ever gets around to building one...

I'm Not There Yet

But in case you can't tell, I'm really thinking about it a lot! Just five days Paul.

Random pictures

I've been chomping at the bit to get out and take some pictures with the new Nikon 18-300 but the weather has been overcast and rainy since Christmas. So in the mean time here are some random pictures in the rain with the new lens...

The weather forecast beginning tomorrow is for much nicer weather through the weekend... Fingers crossed!

Tropical Paradise

Need I say more?

Waterfall to Ice Cycle

I rolled out of bed this morning to a temperature of NINE degrees. The waterfall in my front yard was well on it's way to being a very large ice cylce. We're not supposed to get above freezing for the next several days. I may actually be able to take Q's advice and go skating on my ponds.

On second thought, maybe I'll just sit by the fire and think about doing it.

Colorado Vacation.

Merry Christmas! Ho ho ho

Merry Christmas everyone! 

Since I'm away from home for a few days and only have my phone with me I won't be able to post any picures until I get back. 

Santa (my wife) was good to me... She gave me a real nice PVR... Apparently so I can record the soap operas and reality shows that I never watch... At least that was her story! Haha

That's fine because Santa was good to my wife too... I gave her a Nikon 18-300 vr II lens! This way if she ever gets a SLR Nikon camera she will have a good lens to go with! Untill then I guess I'll be stuck using it... That's MY story and I'm sticking to it! Haha

Merry Christmas from the Shutterbug Elves

YULETIDE WISHES

MERRY CHRISTMAS

May your Yule Log burn brightly and warm your spirit!

Hope this is your best Christmas ever!

 

The Parker Family

Happy Holidays

 

          Just thought I would post this before I get to busy tomorrow with all the festivites taking place and all the driving.  I took this photo of our christmas tree last year. I entered it in a contest at my work and it was chosen to be the christmas card sent out to all the associates. It had a different message on it of course. Merry Chirstmas to everyone, I have enjoyed getting to see everyones photos and enjoyed all of the comments this year. I look forward to what next year brings, which will probably be alot of Hawii shots, lol.



Scenes or Seens !

Spotted this brightly lit train that was giving rides around the grounds of the park. Nothing to do but take a place in the long line for my turn. Normally I would shun such waiting. But this train was Special! I had once rode this same train at the OKC Zoo in the early 50's as a child. Now just a kid at heart, just had to ride one more time! (Happy to say the city of Yukon now owns this train)

As our walk continued around the ponds the wind begin to calm, making for in focus reflections on the water.

 

Stocking Stuffers!

 

 

Had a laugh at the whimsical church on the hill. Even had a cool little penquin come sliding past!

 

Hope all had fun seeing just a few of the many lighted scenes from The Park!

 

HAPPY CHRISTMAS EVE!

 

 

A couple more Eagle pictures...

Found these bored Eagles waiting around for the rest of you Shutterbugs to come over to the West Coast and take their pictures... Took both pictures with the Sigma 120-400 at 400mm.

Santa's Crystal Ball

Stopped in to see Santa while taking in the Christmas lights in the park. Wanted to ask him if he could see any future short time happenings for the Shutterbugs.

A few words were muttered, and after gazing into his ball I was directed to walk down to the pond. There I would find my answer.

After disturbing the many ducks and geese to get to the ponds shore, the reflections in the water led my eyes to a tropical island. It looked to be a place that some Shutterbugs call 'Paradise' in their pics and stories.

There was bright sunshine, mountains and dancing Hula Girls. Even saw a dancing crab and Palm Trees!

One old feller even had a hammock strung between two palms. A cold refreshment with an umbrella to shade the liquid in one hand, the Ice Cream Stand close by, gave his identity away. Heck! That's not an old feller, that's just Ron from Shutterbugs!

The Edge of the Jungle

From my files. It's too cold to get out and take photos! LOL

Christmas In The Park

This is the Season that our Town comes alive with the many lights of Christmas In The Park! Each year the event seems to grow larger with the addition of more exhibits for all to enjoy.

Pedestrian trails and auto trails lead thru the maze of brightly lighted paths.

 

A new scene greets you at every turn and step of the way.

 

 

Our visit this year was accompanied by a very warm night so walking the trails was chosen, which we think is the best way to take in the festivities!

More Cold

I figured since I was already freezing my butt off I would take a few more shots of the cold. The "old time" look was processed in the NIK software using Photoshop CS5.

Smokey Mountain Series.

I'm apologize for the quality due to a stupid Iphone.  Well, this's my first time smoke a brisket, and some ribs from last weekend.  It's a different level of BBQ, I don't think I could get a perfect result without talking to Ron before using this smoker.  Everyone in my family are impressed with my BBQ, and I don't think I would spend my money buying those BBQ meat from a restaurant again.  

It's a Winter Wonderland

The weatherman was right for once! They forecasted snow and we actually got snow. Of course it came with rain, sleet and 45mph winds but we did get snow, about two inches worth.

I figured since Q had you all warm and comfortable with the photos from Kaua'i I would contrast that with some cold and miserable. The winds were still blowing about 20mph yesterday at sunset when I took this shot and the temps were right around 25 degrees. Needless to say I didn't take the time to set up a tripod.

Well, Ron going to be in the Paradise in few days, I guess I'm going to look at these pictures to get over my depressions.  LOL.  Sunrise from Kauai.

Just 15 days

What? Paul asked a question and I'm just giving him an answer. I'm not trying to rub it in. LOL

Snow Dogs! (Hooligans)

Like grade school kids at recess when you get these three together in the snow! Finally after almost an hour of horse play in the white stuff Sunny stopped moving long enough for me to get a nice picture of him.

Chil-Laxing

Parker's two yellow chairs has got me daydreaming and thinking of chil-laxing some where warm and mellow. I think a trip to the islands is in order.

Mellow Yellow

The Yellow Chairs

'No Working Or Thinking Allowed'

 

Sunday was just such a day!

After a busy week of activities in this self imposed toil; Recharging the inner batteries was in order!

Yellow chairs were not to be had, but my leather recliner was a good substitute!

Extreme photography

Found this intrepid individual doing some extreme cell phone photography this afternoon at Thomas Point. Over the years a number of people have been pulled into the water at this location. This fellow was lucky, I wonder if his cell phone was lucky enough to survive the saltwater bath?

Took this series of shots with the Sigma 120-400 at 400mm from a safe location 1,000 yards (0.6 miles) away. (Just out of curiosity I checked the distance on Google Earth).