New Gear

I finally took the leap and got myself a new camera.  I went ahead and picked up a D7000, which was just release from Nikon.  This camera is all that and a bag of chips (as we used to say a few years ago).  I had a great unboxing video, but my cat kept messing up my shoot so I culled it.  It is 14 mega pixels with 1080p HD video capabilities.

I love being an early adaptor and getting new technology, but when I bought my new camera I did not think about having problems with my computer software...more to come on that soon...

New Software

Well, I am making the move to use new software in my digital work flow.  After leaning heavily on a combo of Picasa and Elements, I am making the move to Lightroom 3 for my initial processing and organization.  It will be a HUGE move because I am going to be moving relocating about 40k picture files...I hope I have a ton of patience!

Watch and Wait

I have a major desire for some new gear.  I have been shooting with the same camera since the end of 2006 and even though I love it....I am wanting to try something new.  The suprising thing is that I am not really 'upgrading' in the traditional way.  The camera I want is similiar to the Nikon D80 I shoot with now.  It is the new Nikon D7000.  I wanted a Nikon D300s, but it seems that mist photographers are going to have to have video cabalitily in the future and teh D7000 shoots high def video.  Right now I am just in the process of deciding, but who knows - maybe I will have some new gear coming my way.

Fall is in the air 09 13 2010

Well, as much as I have loved summer it looks like it is getting ready to go away. Fall is in the air and a few leaves have started to slip from their branches.

06 26 2010 Let there by light

And God Said, Let There be Light.

06 17 2010 Built 1871

I was out on photo drive when I passed this old church. It was out in the middle of two farm fields. This church was founded in 1820 and the building was built in 1871. It was so beautiful.

06 12 2010 Another Perfect Sunset

06 10 2010 Rocks in Waiting

I guess I am just on a theme about dams, but I love photographing them. I was actually at a dam and I was struck by these weathered rocks. They are in the flood zone of the dam, so they get underwater when the water comes out, but until that time - they are rocks in waiting.

06 07 2010 Flare Above the Dam

I love sun flare. Although some photographers try to avoid them, I seek them out. Flare is caused when you can see the light source and it's patterns. It is special for me when I get a photo that has a little flare.

06 05 210 Night Lighting

This was a fun night. I was sitting in the back of my Explorer during a torrential down pour. I was trying to get a picture of a lightening bolt, but on this night it not streaking across the sky, it was popping behind the clouds. I sat with my shutter open to get this pic.

06 03 2010 - Bright Dam

A little nudging on the saturation and vibrance scale makes this picture of a dam in downtown Prattville, Al and the dramatic skyline pop!

06 01 2010 - Seymore Up Close

Animals can make such great subjects!

05 31 2010 - Double Rainbow

05 30 2010 - Still Afloat

Well, never give up and never sink could be the motto of this little boat. How it has not crumbled and floated away in the mighty Alabama River is beyond me, but it hasn't.

05 29 2010 Another Night Picture - The Moon

Here is another night picture that I took. The goal was to get a clear picture of the moon, but it was tucked behind the trees to well.

05 28 2010 - Garden at Night

Going out at night is a fun way to take different pics. Go out and set up on tripod to take pictures at night. Most DSLR cameras have a shutter speed of 'bulb' which allows you to leave the shutter on the camera open as long as you want. It was pitch black when I took this photo, hard to tell huh?

05 27 2010 A Thorny Thicket

While driving around, I was trying to capture a dramatic landscape picture when all of this thorn thicket of berries. In hind site, I wish I would have captured more of the barbed wire and the large vine growing out the top. But that is okay, I still love the delicate berries, the barbed wire, and the landscape in the background.

05 26 2010 - What is in focus?

Dandelions are a favorite weed of mine to take photos of. I layed in my yard to get to ground level to try to get a different view. I got one dandelion in focus, which made the photo a little different and to me more interesting. They are blurry cotton balls, with one sharp flower in focus.

05 25 2010 - Turtle Power

This is my favorite nightlight. It sits on an entertainment center in my bedroom and I love the ambient light it gives off. I took this photo with my point and shoot camera and did a touch of color adjustment (keeping the light portion and fading the rest to black and white) to make the light pop. I love to keep a point and shoot camera in my bag so I can catch images like this one at any time.

05 24 2010 - Old Truck

Need I say more? It's an old truck :)

05 23 2010 My Hydrangeas

My favorite flowers in the whole wide world to grow are hydrangeas. They are easy they are colorful and they are reliable. No matter what they seem to come back year after year. I love to watch them throughout the season to see what they will look like each year.

05 22 2010 Baby Birds

These little mocking birds were hungry and looking for some grub (probably literally...grub). I got dive bombed by there protective mother when I was taking this photo. I quickly got out of there so they could finish their dinner.

05 21 2010 Purple Sky

I took this photo outside of my house. The sky was a pretty shade, and I thought it was a peaceful moment.

The Brown Pelican

I have always enjoyed watching pelicans at the beach. They are funny birds with big appetites. I never thought about these birds being coated in oil and fighting for their lives before the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Now, the images on the news are breaking my heart. There are some places were the large birds are coated with thick mucky oil. I don't think I will ever look at these birds as being funny again. I will look at them as survivors and as majestic.

I send special thanks to all the veterinarians and volunteers that are helping clean the animals affected by the oil spill.

05 20 2010 The Break of Dawn

While training at my new day job, I had the chance to work overnight for a week. In the mornings when I headed home there were some amazing sunrises. I would think about how many people don't get up in time to see the sunrise let alone go to bed with it. One day though, this particular sunrise caught my attention. I doubled back towards where I had left in search of a clear shot of it. I could not find such an area in the city, but I noticed the appealing lamp post. The combo worked out well and I was able to capture an image of the sun in all of its glory.

05 19 2010 Go The Distance

Go The Distance - Look to the horizon and see just how far you can go. That is what I think when I look at this photo. I got it by standing on a hill at the top of a housing development, looking toward the North.

05 18 2010 - Reach for the Top

Reach for the Top, no matter how high it may be.

05 17 2010 My Hydrangeas

I know summer is on the way when my hydrangeas start to bloom. This one will turn bright blue like the one flower already has when it is bloomed out. It is fun to photograph flowers and they can be great lighting and reflection subjects to practice on.