Why buy a discontinued camera

 Photography  18 Responses »
Mar 022012
 

I got a call from Adorama and the deal is done. They made me an offer that I could have refused, but didn’t. The had some stuff that I wanted, so I got it. So, here’s what’s on the way:

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D700
28-70 mm Nikkor f/2.8 VR
105 mm f/2.8 Nikon Micro (Macro) lens.

Two of the items, the D700 and 28-70 mm are used, but in Like New, or Demo shape. For sure, Adorama beat me on the spread; they will make a decent profit on this deal, for sure; however, I got exactly what I wanted. I’ve wanted the D700 since it came out, so here I go and buy it a few weeks after it’s discontinued. I suppose that had I waited a few more weeks until the D800 came out, I could have made even a better deal, but I didn’t.

So now, I will have a full frame camera and 3 lenses to use with it. One for wide to portrait, one for macro or portrait, and a 50 mm. That about does it for me.

Now, why buy a discontinued item? Why not. It’s a great camera, has everything that I want, including NO video, and is a price point that I can afford. I kept looking at the D800 and didn’t see anything that made me say: Wow! I’d like to have that.

So, now, I have a D700 and a D300. Of course, I’ll take the D700 out into the woods with me and play with the full-frame sensor. The D300 would still be my go-to sports camera. Yeah. I still like gear and I don’t really need a reason to buy any other than I want it. LOL :)

The best thing about the D700 – it has no video and still has a nice 12.3 MP sensor and higher ISO sensitivity, if I need it. I’m going to have to try that 25,600, just for fun! As an FYI, both the D700 and D300s are discontinued. That was a short life for the D300s!

 Posted by at 01:00  Tagged with: , ,

No wildflowers just yet …

 Photography  3 Responses »
Mar 012012
 

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I’m excited to be back in the woods! This morning, I went back, without fog, and stayed for almost two hours. I was on a hunt for wildflowers, but they were not to be found.
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I looked high and low, hither and yon, to and fro and not a wildflower was spotted. Oh well. I had a great time listing to the woodpeckers, the squirrels scampering about, and the trickle of the stream.

On the way I out I saw one of the employees and asked him where was the best place to see wildflowers. He told me that I was about 2 weeks too early, but that when they do start to show up, he told me which trails were good for spring, which for summer, and which for late fall and autumn. Sweet. Nice having someone on the inside.

So, I just spent my morning looking at moss, fungi, and the daffodils. A great morning and a wonderful day thus far, about 75 degrees and sunny. Not bad for March 1st!

 Posted by at 14:40  Tagged with: , ,

Where I connect

 Photography  8 Responses »
Feb 292012
 

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Curves

Going over my photos from the past several years and preparing my books has been a great learning experience. Previously, I’d take the photos and move on. Now, having to go back to the past photos, evaluate them for inclusion in a book, and really ‘see’ them again has opened my eyes to what I really like and where I think that I connect in photography. Most of the photos that I selected, where I really felt that I was ‘there’. In the workshop that I will be taking with Les Saucier, on March 10th, we need to bring 6 photos for critique. Some where we felt that we really showed up, others where we were there, but didn’t quite ‘show up’. All of the ones where I sincerely felt that I showed up are landscape and macro. All, early morning, very few in the evening. Obviously, that’s where I do my best work. It helps to know that. I don’t see it as a constraint, merely knowledge.
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Since about 2009, I’ve been all over the map. A little bit of street photography, iPhone photography, this, that, the other. Chaotic. It was all a big experiment, or perhaps where my mind was, a bit, no, a lot unsettled. However, I can tell you that when I went into the park yesterday, put my camera on the tripod, and began to shoot, it felt right. I felt connected again. I felt at peace and felt like I knew what I was doing. The first time that I’ve felt that in a really long time. Everything else felt rushed and unsure. The only downside was that I was limited by time.

I think that I connect in the woods and with people, in a portrait setting and I hope to have some more of those opportunities, perhaps a chance to combine the two! So, more than likely, you’ll be seeing a lot more landscape/insect/wildlife photos from me, with a few portraits thrown in.

 Posted by at 23:13  Tagged with: , , ,

Dense Fog Advisory

 Photography  10 Responses »
Feb 282012
 

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It was my desire to make it to the other side of town this weekend, but it was so windy and cold that I decided to skip it.

This morning, I awoke, checked the iPhone to see what the morning’s weather would bring. To my surprise and happiness, there was an non-precipitation warning: Dense Fog Advisory. Well, I do have this fog fetish, you know. :D I got up, gave a look out the window, saw lots of fog, but didn’t get too happy, yet. I know how flaky fog can be. Sometimes it just settles in patches.
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When I took Mr. Hobbs out to do his business, I noticed that this was not patchy. It was good and thick, like pea soup, as they say … just the way that I like it. I let Hobbs finish, then took him back in, grabbed my D300 and tripod, and went to the park. It was around 6:45 AM or so. I knew that I couldn’t let myself get totally into it or I would be late for work. So, I had to stay aware of the time. :)

It takes slightly less than 10 minutes to get the park. I was listening to music on the way down, but when I got into the park, I had to turn the music off. It just seemed ‘wrong’ somehow to be listening to the music amongst the trees and the fog. A huge grin spread across my face.

I parked, got out the gear, and set about having a good time. Before I knew it, it was 7:35 AM and I was just getting ‘warmed up’ and into the flow, but I had to leave … well, maybe a few more shots, which turned into another 10 minutes.

Finally, I was able to pull myself away, go home, and get ready for work. It’s a good thing that I had a 9:30 meeting and that I had planned to go into the office instead of working from home or else, I might have been distracted a bit more. LOL.

 Posted by at 11:20  Tagged with: , , ,

Missing the garden

 Photography  10 Responses »
Feb 242012
 

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When I lived on the north side of Charlotte, I used to go to the gardens on the campus of The University of North Carolina at Charlotte, or UNCC. Here, no matter what the season, I’d find a variety of plants to photograph, either outside, or inside the greenhouse. Both venues were free to visit at any time.
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Since I moved to the south side of town, some 30+ miles away, I’ve looked for an acceptable substitute, but have found none. Sure, there are a couple of gardens, such as Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden, which charges a $12 entry fee, or you can get a fairly inexpensive yearly pass, but it has such a different feel. Also, DSBG is only open from 9 A.M. – 5 P.M., 7 days a week, hardly accommodating the early morning photographer who likes to get there when the light is good. There are also a couple of other smaller gardens, all have entry fees, and all are open limited hours.

The major pleasure about the UNCC gardens was that it is open all the time, so weather permitting, I could go at any time of day or night. Also, I never knew what I would find, as the gardner liked to change things up a bit. It was sort of like walking through someone’s backyard. There were always few people there, too. Usually, other than the occasional student walking by on the road, I had the garden to myself, so I could sit, contemplate, experiment, and think about shots, or not.

DSBG gets lots of visitors, so there’s always someone roaming around and people tend to like to stop, talk, and ask what you are photographing. It kind of destroys the moment. :)

Anyway, looks like I’ll have to make a journey to the other side of town, soon, as I am really missing the garden. I looked to see if, perhaps, there were some small colleges that had gardens, but no luck. The next nearest is Clemson, some 2 hours away, in South Carolina.

 Posted by at 16:04  Tagged with: , ,

Selling the M9

 Photography  25 Responses »
Feb 202012
 

Things come. Things go. Sometimes things seem like a good idea and turn out to be not such a good idea, but we learn.

I bought the Leica M9, not quite a year ago. During that time, I’ve taken 4,567 photos with it. Most of those that Pedro’s wedding and in Australia. Other than that, I’ve not used it all that much. This year, I’ve taken 133 photos with it. Not many.
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So, why don’t I use it that much? Well, I did, of course, when I first got it. Of course, it was fun. It was new. It was the only full-frame camera that I had, AND, my D300 was broken. After using for nearly year, I see that it doesn’t quite fit my style of photography. I’m not taking as many street shots as I thought that I would and, therefore, it sits largely unused. To my way of thinking, this is a big waste of money that could be utilized elsewhere, put towards something that I want to do, or perhaps a more useful camera, perhaps an upgrade to a full-frame Nikon and a lens or two. Who knows. I’ve had a secret yearning for that D700 since it was released and I’ve not given into it … yet! :) Then again, I may just hold on to the money and use it for travel.

At any rate, as is the case with digital cameras, even the vaunted Leica brand, they devalue. I was talking to Adorama, and they said that they would pay about 70% of full retail if the camera is in excellent shape, which mine is. A quick calculation of that gives me about $4900, plus whatever they will give me for the 50 mm Summicron lens and the extra battery. So, I may come away with close to $6,000. Yeah, it’s certainly less than I paid, but certainly better than having it sit, gathering dust, and depreciating even more.

I’ve received the shipping label from Adorama. They will receive the camera, evaluate all that I sent them, give me a price. I can accept or reject. If I accept, they will direct deposit the amount to me. If I reject, well, I just need to pay for return shipping.

It was interesting while I had it. Having a rangefinder was something that I wanted to do, and I did it. It took a while to figure out that it just didn’t fit my style. The camera was a great camera, having wonderful image quality, but … just not for me.

 Posted by at 14:20  Tagged with: ,

Reading and practicing

 Photography  6 Responses »
Feb 182012
 

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He’s a professional
It’s an easy Saturday morning. I purchased Kirk Tuck’s Minimalist Lighting book and am practicing with Hobbs. In truth, most of the knowledge contained in the book, I knew. I’d studied some lighting by the late Dean Collins, who was a master of light and I’ve done lots of reading on Strobist, et al, so there is nothing much that is new. Overall, it’s a good read, especially for someone who might be a beginner. I’m surprised that everything looks so nice on my Kindle reader, even the photos. I took a chance tried the Kindle version.

I’m practicing now to see exactly how much I can do with one, off camera SB-600 and an optional reflector. Actually, there is so much that can be done with one flash. It’s fun to practice and Hobbs doesn’t seem to mind.

Both of these photos use a bit of fill flash to balance the strong light coming in from the door on the left and the shadow side on the right.

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 Posted by at 12:10  Tagged with: ,
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