What is New?

So it appears Nikon is slowing phasing out the D300s, time for a replacement? I hope so, I know I have been eying the D7000 but if Nikon replaces the D300s, I think that would be the route I would take. Once I can afford the investment. Since the weather around Chicago has not been that great for getting outside and taking photos, I have been trying to get a little more creative with what I have been doing. As I have said before, I love still life’s, playing around with the Depth of Field and Bokeh.

*Note: I know some people who read my blog do not know what this means: In photography, bokeh (pronounced /bɒkɛ/) is the blur, or the aesthetic quality of the blur, in out-of-focus areas of an image, or “the way the lens renders out-of-focus points of light.”*

Playing around in our Condo, I saw the vase Colleen bought as a test to see if we wanted to use it for our wedding tables centerpieces but since we are taking a different route, it is in our Kitchen.

Here is a still life of my coffee mug Colleen bought me as an early Valentine’s Day gift:

The last is probably one of my favorites I have done recently. This was one of those I have my camera with me let’s see how this comes out. So I took a shot of the empty CTA train, there were two people in the car at the time but they were not in my field of view. I then created an HDR from the one raw file and converted it in Photoshop to create a black and white image. I think it came out pretty well:

Let’s hope the fog clears and I can get outside soon and take some shots, have a great weekend everyone!

Something a little bit different….

At least for myself it is. I love still life and playing with light. It is the only reason I wish I had a studio, or maybe I just need to set-up a table-top micro studio and get a flash and a better macro lens. But once in awhile I do take shots like these. Very seldom do they turn out well, but here are a few to check out:

This is one using my 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 to capture a tea light behind with 50mm f/1.8 with the aperture open.

Secondly again using tea lights but this time directly. Getting the reflection off the counter top and adding a little bokeh.

Hopefully I will get better at these and will post more.

Only just over a week left till Christmas!
Enjoy!