Carnival & Thomas Redux

Thought I'd add a few that I didn't include on 2peas - and a couple that I did.

Day out with Thomas

Here's a few from our Big Trip. The boys had a good time, even if they refused to cooperate with picture-taking. Settings are all over the place, and I used the 18-55 lens.

Carnivale

We took Bebo to the carnival tonight. The child had a blast. I'm just going to share one photo (you can see the rest in my gallery at twopeas). It's not the best of the bunch, but it is absolutely hysterical. He just had to ride the train, but it went a little faster than he was expecting - as you can see. We were such awful parents, 'cause we stood there laughing so hard we were in tears. I'm still laughing everytime I see this pic. BTW - he got over being scared pretty quickly, and thoroughly enjoyed the rest of the rides!

Sun Flares & VW Bugs

Braeden wanted to play outside this afternoon, so I grabbed the camp chair and my camera in hopes that something interesting might happen. I was in luck. First, the sun broke through the clouds and created a lovely sun flare, which I actually managed to get on camera. The sun washed out the color, so I just changed it to black and white - and I love it that way!

Then a caravan of old VW bugs stopped in the church parking lot. I don't know if they realized I was taking their picture or not; I had the zoom lens on the camera when they drove up so I didn't have to move off the porch. It was too good to pass up. I decided that I really like photographing cars, and I think the next time Grandpa goes to a car show, I'm going to tag along.

The sun shots were taken with the 50mm lens at f/22, and the cars were taken with the 55-200 lens, f/11.

New Portrait Lens

Okay, no more lenses for a while. I still need a good polarizing filter, and maybe I'll ask for reflectors for my birthday. But the purchases have to stop now. I'm having waaaaay too much fun.

So the newest lens is pretty cool. It's a 50mm/1.8 portrait lens. It seems to get rave reviews everywhere I look. The downside is that it won't autofocus on my camera, so I have to manually focus, and this is a problem with a perpetual motion 4-year-old. My focus keeps landing on top of his head instead of his face. With practice, I think I'm really going to like it. I'm told that there's a bit of a learning curve to this particular lens, so I'm okay with that.


Here's some of Braeden that I took with it late this afternoon. Focus and lighting aren't the best, and as usual, please ignore the snotty nose. Otherwise, I like them pretty well. Jeff is already asking for copies to put in his wallet!

Rain

Here's some fun ones I took with my new lens. My dumb dog got out while it was pouring down, so he was banished to the yard for a while. Sadly, it's one of the best pictures I've ever taken of him! The second is a totally cool shot of the reflection off the ripples pooling up in front of my house. And the third is the bubbles forming on my sidewalk. All were taken with a 55-200mm lens, f/5.6 at various shutter speeds.

Barely Keeping Up

Whew. I got the new lens, and I haven't had a chance to use it. We have company coming this weekend, and I've been busting tail trying to get ready for them. Maybe this weekend I'll get to take some pics - Grandpa can babysit and let me shoot, right?

Speaking of lenses, I think I have picked my next two purchases. One is a 50mm portrait lens. Everyone at 2ps keeps raving about it, and I do want to do portraits. Plus it's a fixed-focal length lens, which means one less thing for me to have to think about. Did I mention that I can buy it for about $120?

Second one is a little more expensive. Depending on whether or not I buy the Nikon or the offshoot Sigma/Tamron lens, I'm looking at $200-400 for a macro lens. I need to research that one a little further, but I really want to be able to take ultra-close-up pictures.

Then I need a polarizing filter, and a flash, and a backdrop stand. . .

My word, this hobby is going to be expensive! Good thing it seems to be paying off. I'm truly amazed at how much I am learning - and how much fun it is.

Hopefully I'll have some more pics in a day or two. Until then, adios, amigos!

Late Night & the Baptist Church

I must be crazy.

11:30 pm, 40-ish degrees, and I'm standing on the absolute edge of the road with a camera pointed at the stoplight hoping to expose long enough to catch it in all three colors. Unfortunately, the light was motion-sensored, and no one came along to change it. But I did get some freaky pics of the road up behind my house and the (green) traffic light complete with fog cover.

For grins, I'll throw in one I took of the Baptist church up the road. Too bad the tree is in the way.

All were taken with my new Nikkor 55-200 lens. I have no idea if these are interesting to look at or not, but I like 'em anywho!

New lens on the way!

Tee-hee. I'm getting a new lens. (Thanks, Dad!) It's supposed to be here Tuesday, and I simply cannot wait to get it.

In the meantime, thought I'd throw in a couple of pics that I've taken the last few days.

This one I attempted to fix in photoshop. My poor child's nose never quits running, and I don't always realize it until after the perfect photo op has passed.




















Now how is this for crazy? Same tracks, one week earlier. We went from upper 80s to barely 50s literally overnight!

Here's a gorgeous pink dogwood that I got before it snowed last night. The background was a black-tinted glass, which explains the weird color.

Tracks & Stuff

I finally took the time to clear out my memory cards so I could take more pictures. I need to figure out some sort of system for storing my photo CDs, too.

In the meantime, here's a couple pics.

Braeden on the RR tracks behind the house and a redbud behind Mom & Dad's house.