Time to upgrade!

So I've made the executive decision that I'm going to invest in a new lens. The 18-55mm that came with the camera is super versatile and works for a wide variety of shooting situations, but I'd like a new lens that does the following:

1. Works in low light situations
2. Is a little better creating fuzziness - I've learned this is called bokeh
3. Is a good portrait lens

With these things in mind, I've narrowed my choices (within my budget) to:

1. Nikkor 35mm f/1.8G AF-S DX
2. Nikkor 50mm f/1.4G AF-S

A few things about each:

Nikkor 35mm f/1.8G AF-S DX
This prime (meaning no zoom capabilities) lens is made specifically for my type of camera (DX) and at 35mm is considered a "wide angle lens" so I'll be able to fit a wider view in my lens. The f/1.8 means that the opening of the lens is large, so it will be able to capture a bunch of light. Nikon says this lens is perfect for low-light conditions, travel, portrait and general photography. It is also quite affordable at around $200.

Nikkor 50mm f/1.4G AF-S
This prime lens is not made specifically for my camera, so although its a 50mm lens, it will act as a 75mm lens on my camera (really close up views.) The lens on this one is a stop bigger than the 35mm I'm considering, which also makes this lens perfect for low-light conditions, travel, and portrait photography. This lens has a bit higher price tag at $485.

After tons of Googling and reading photography forums and reviews, I've decided the winner is the 35mm! I think for my purposes this lens will be a bit more versatile than the 50mm, and the price tag is definitely more attractive, especially since I did some damage at NorthPark Center yesterday. Apparently everyone else that has a Nikon has decided this lens is a great choice too, because its completely out of stock at every retailer and is back-ordered from Nikon - boo. Guess I'll just have to wait!

It's Austin time!

So this weekend, Tyler and I made a quick trip to Austin to see my friend Lisa get married. Before the wedding, we met up with Tyler's family for lunch and then visited with them afterwards at their new "log cabin" they just moved into.  I took a few pictures of their property for Nicole to share with friends, but I also was able to take my first kid pictures of her daughter Ashton.  Lucky for me, Ashton was more than willing to be my model.  One thing to note - I was feeling adventurous so this was my first time to switch off of aperture mode and onto manual mode - SCARY!  I definitely could tell a difference in my pictures when I set the shutter speed and aperture in different ways.  My goal is to continue to shoot on manual mode as much as possible so I can learn more about how to manipulate the light coming into the camera.  Here are a few pics of Ashton:

They also have a great dog with big brown eyes, Bailey:

And they also have a pony as a neighbor! This pony came running across a field just to say hello to us:

What do you think?

-n

It's flower time!

The weather in Dallas this weekend was warm and sunny, so Tyler and I made our way to the Dallas Arboretum on Saturday.  Once we got to that side of town, it appeared that the rest of Dallas had the same idea, so Tyler had the bright idea to park 2 miles away and walk there - ugh.  I threw a little fit and pouted the whole time, but I did get a few pictures on the walk past White Rock Lake on the way there.  There were a gazillion people there, but there were more tulips than I've ever seen in my life in every single color you could imagine.  Here are a few pics from our Saturday.

The fence on the walk to the arboretum

White Rock Lake

Fisherman on the lake



Red tulips

Neat fountain in one of the gardens

So many tulips!

Blue pots

Tree-lined walkway



And one of Max - of course :)



It's class time!

So I've been so busy the past few weekends, that I don't have any new photos to post just yet. However, Tyler has promised me that if the weather is nice this weekend that we can go check out the arboretum so I can get some pictures of the tulips....so stay tuned for this weekend!

In other exciting news, I just signed up for a photography class at Brookhaven Community College here in Dallas!  Class starts in two weeks - Thursdays from 6:30-9:30 (let's hope I can get off work in time!)  I'm really excited to start getting assignments so I can hopefully start building a little portfolio.  Here's the class description:

"Prerequisites: Highly recommended that students have some basic photography knowledge in f-stop, shutter speed and ISO as well as working knowledge of their camera’s manual.

Learn by doing in this workshop with hands-on projects each week. Projects are done in class, with no homework, except some shooting your feet - learning technique.  Improve your images by using the features of your camera.  Your coursework will let you learn the technique/settings, perform tasks with your team partner; and present each week's assignment to your classmates."

Brookhaven has a ton of different photography classes (as do some of the other community colleges in Dallas) and they're pretty inexpensive.  Good thing, because I've got my eye on my first new lens which also happens to be more expensive than my new Marc Jacobs bag!  YIKES!

And in even more exciting news, Tyler and I are going to Charleston, South Carolina at the end of May. There is a "Photography Tour" that I'll be dragging Tyler on, so I'll definitely be taking my camera and am looking forward to getting some great shots while we're there.

Lots to look forward to!

xo, 

n

It's Max & Greyson time!

So I haven't had much free time lately, but last weekend I was in Houston at my parent's house so I took some pictures of their cat, Greyson.  Greyson HATES me - its because he's jealous of cute little Max, so it was hard for me to get close to him to take pictures, but I did get a few good ones.  There are also some of the cutest little kitty in the world, little Max.

What do you think?  Next post won't be cats, promise. :)

-n



It's Max time!

Here are some pictures of my favorite little fur-baby, Max.  I mean, honestly, its not like there could be a bad picture of him because he's so darn pretty :)  So on a photo related note, the more I play with my camera the more I tend to like the look of pictures taken using natural light rather than indoor/halogen/fluorescent lighting.  I think the pictures just look so much more realistic and nicer.  These pictures were taken in my living room with the curtains drawn so all the natural light flooded in to highlight the little fur baby.



Fur baby - so pretty



Close-up



I wanted to play up the contrast of the colors in his fur so these next few are in black and white.



Thoughts?

xo, n

it's snow time!

So Dallas has had its yearly February ice-over - this time it was dramatic.  DISD was closed 4 days in a row (and DISD never closes), yet my office was open all week so I wasn't able to go out and take some snapshots until today.  I made Tyler walk around the neighborhood with me, and he's actually pretty good at spotting some good ice sculptures.  Here is a sampling of what we saw:



This was actually taken Tuesday - the first sign of ice..





Baby snowman






Tree-lined street...

 



Frozen ice from the gutter..





My favorite - a stream of ice coming off of a plant



What do you think?

-n