And the winner is...

The winner is the one who can grab the other by the tail!

Maggie and Sunny kept this up most of one afternoon last weekend, by the end of the day both were dog tired... Hmm wonder where that expression came from anyway! LOL

Star Trails.

Nikkor 80-200mm f/2.8 pictures.

These pictures it was on Nikon D3 with Nikkor 17-35mm f/2.8 D IF-ED, and handheld.

Nikkor 80-200mmD ED lens.

 80mm, f/6.3, and ISO200 

The distance about 7' away.

 80mm, f/2.8, and ISO200

The distance about 15' away.

 200mm, f/16, and ISO200.

The flower is blurry due to the wind.

 200mm, f/2.8, and ISO200

 80mm, f/11, ISO200, and TTL flash.

80mm, f/2.8, ISO200, and TTL flash.

Ron have requested for me to take some sample pictures on this lens for him.  According to these pictures,  I just want to give you some of my opinions on this lens VS. 70-200mm f/2.8 ED VR. that I have used for 5 years to this date.

All of these pictures it was on Nikon D2X camera, mounted on the tripod, and everything sets to manufacturing setting "no post processing".  However, I forgot to change the WB from Flash to Auto.  I would take this lens out to shoot some birds for you, but the heat came back up to 103 today.  So, I just do some quick shooting around my house.   

The optics quality is about the same between 2 lenses if you shoot above f/5.6, and the focus is fast.  Also, this lens body is made out of metal casting, and it will put up some abuses down the road.  

The only thing that I don't like about this lens is that I can see the vignette in the corners on f/2.8 to 3.5.  Other than that is very sharp if you shoot above f/5.6.  I hope these pictures will help you on the purchase.

Please visit this link for more reviews on this lens.  http://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/80200.htm

' OKIE "

This ' CENTENNIAL LONGHORN ' was Skyview Elementary's contribution to the Statehood's celebration.

Standing by the sidewalk that leads to the front door of the school, He greets all the youngsters every morning. He even puts in a Plug for the Mother Road, Route 66.

Aiming for the sky

The little town I live in has an annual antique tractor show and parade and the show was this past weekend. There happened to be a guy there with something more than old tractors so I stopped in to take a few photos.

I need one of these to drive into the "big city" next time I go. Maybe people would be a little nicer in their driving!

For some reason, I've always wanted one of these. Maybe one day!

Don't kick the bombs!! LOL

RED STEER

The children at Myers Elementary School chose bright colors for their Centennial Longhorn. Some of our State symbols were also painted on the steer. Below the left ear is the State Wildflower, Indian Blanket. Honoring our Indian Heritage are some Tipi's and a warriors head by the State Seal. The state Furbearer the Raccoon stands by the Scissortail our state bird. I think the kids did a wonderful job choosing the theme and paint scheme on their longhorn!

Domo Arigato Mr. Roboto

I should say domo arigato (thank you) Mr. Q! Keeping the wife happy with sushi is now super easy with the Sushezi! Do I sound like a commercial?  The hardest part about making sushi now is getting the nori. The little town I live in has never heard of seaweed! LOL  I have to order it off of the internet or drive 45 miles to get it.

I made these last night for dinner and for the "I don't like raw fish" crowd such as myself, everything in these rolls is cooked! Salmon with cucumber and avacado, crab with mango and avacado and a greek roll courtesy of Iron Chef Cat Cora that has kalamata olives, feta cheese and roasted red peppers.

Testing on 200-400mm lens.

 Man of the house.

 I'm wondering what time the Zoo going to close today?

Do you have better thing to do?

These are from the Fort Worth Zoo today.  The only different from these pictures to the last post, is that I change the color mode to Vivid, and the focus system to 3D tracking. 

Camouflage or, hiding in plain site

Still reaching into the old photos for soemthing to post. I came across this one that I took in March of this year while taking a short hike with a photographer who cameto the mountains for a visit.

This was also shot with the Sigma 150-500mm and as usual, hand held. :~)

The Wave.

I'm not sure I have post these photos before or not!  If you have a question about the 2nd. picture, here are the setting on the camera.  ISO 1600, shutter- Buld about 5-7 min.  This is a multiple exposures, first shot the rocks with 9 SB800's, and shoot the sky on Buld shutter speed.  Then merged them together in CS5.  There's a trick to shoot this long exposure on one frame, but I haven't been taught yet!

I've got my eye on you...

I took this shot with the Sigma 10-20mm wide angle one day. Just kidding!! I've accidentally been that close to one of these guys before but never on purpose!

This was shot with the Sigma 150-500mm at 500mm. It has a little cropping to it but just to take some of the empty space on the right hand side out of the shot.

Normal for Canada...

Just not normal for this time of year thankfully! This was my morning commute to work February 28th this year...

Currently we are enjoying a nice "Indian Summer", temp got up to 86° F. this afternoon.

Sorry for not posting much of anything lately, I am so buried in work and haven't had a chance to get out and do any shooting... But I'm not complaining, going to make hay while the sun shines!

CENTENNIAL LONGHORN STEER

The State of Oklahoma celebrated it's 100th Birthday November 16th, 2007. In honor of this occasion cities all over the State chose different themes and projects to participate in the milestone event.

One project that the citizens of Yukon undertook was the Centennial Longhorns. Funds for the purchase of these sculptures came from donations and fundraisers. The Longhorn was a natural choice for us. The Chisholm Trail over which these animals were driven from Texas to Kansas came right thru our town!

This one presented by the Yukon Historical Society sits on Main Street at the Railroad Tracks.

My first photo in the series of 'Centennial Longhorns'.

It's cold outside

I thought I was going to have to put on my fur coat this morning, it was down to 46 last night!

I took this photo last February at the wildlife refuge. This was in my front yard and I was using one of Q's old tricks, throw them food! The deer in the far back is getting ready to woop up on somebody to get her share.

Me, and my Baby!

Nikkor 200-400mm f/4 ED VR.

ISO 400, f/8, and 1/250.    

Well, my birthday going to be in few days, and I know my lovely wife don't mind for me to add more lenses to my collections. Therefore, I want to take advantage of the special sales in this Holiday weekend.  I thought I'm going to come home with one item only, but somehow I found few more lenses in the bag.  I know she loves anyway, so she won't ask me what's in it.  LOL.

Today the outside temp. is in the 80's, and I just want to try out my new toys.  So, I went to the park near by my house this evening to test out my new 200-400mm lens.  The bird in the top picture were standing about 50 yds. away from the camera, and shooting at 400mm zoom.

The bottom picture have been cropped about 60% from the top picture.  Also, I have set the camera setting to original manufacturing default setting.  This is a original picture came from the camera, and no PS editing.  For the result, I like the fast focusing, and the sharpness.  So, what do you think about this lens?

By the way, the weight on this lens is around 7.4 lb, plus the camera= 12 lb.  Yes, Ron no handheld allowed.  LOL.

Please standby for more testing on Nikkor 17-35mm f/2.8, 24-70mm f/2.8, and 80-200mm f/2.8.

B&W on long shutter speed.

Lens is back!

Got the Sigma 120-400 back from warranty repairs in less than a month this time! Which really surprised me, last time it took 2 months to the day.

Last time they replaced the focus motor and this time they replaced the main sensor unit in the lens... It might be my imagination but I think it operates much better now than when it was new. Time will tell.

Took both pictures with the Sigma. The top photo is from my balcony looking across the street yesterday evening and the bottom photo is from this afternoon.

Sushi!

I just made this one about 15 min. ago. You all are invited.

Pretty cool stuff!

I finally got a chance to watch the youtube video that Q gave us the link to about colorizing one spot in a black and white photo in Nikon Capture NX2. I was amazed at how simple and fast it was, just a matter of seconds and poof, you've got color where you want it an only where you want it. Easy Peazy!!

This is Cheryl sitting in the keiki (kids) pool at the Hyatt Regency on Maui. We finally rebooked our trip and are set to go this coming January for ten days. Just 135 days and I will be in paradise wondering; should I leave the bar to go take photos or just sit and watch the bikinis? LOL

CLIMBER'S

Something about trees and tree stumps that kids can't resist.

This is my last picture in this series, ART IN THE PARK. The only thing I didn't post were the Buffalo sculptures. In my view they didn't even resemble Bison and they were poorly placed in their setting.

This has been an enjoyable project and I feel that I have learned a little more about photography and processing my pics.

So, now that I have got all the kids finally up the tree, my next series will be "CENTENNIAL LONGHORNS".