Fun with shutter speed!

For the 4th of July (I know, that was MONTHS ago) Tyler and I made a last minute decision to head outside the loop and head up to Addison for the yearly Kaboomtown fireworks display. We went to Wal-mart and bought some lawn chairs and beer, and parked ourselves in the middle of a huge field with about 800 other people. During my very first photography class, the teacher showed some pictures to illustrate shutter speed.  They looked like some weird amoebas and we weren't really sure what he was trying to show us, until he revealed that they weren't part of some science experiment, they were fireworks!  He had talked about how he left the shutter in his camera open for several seconds while spinning his camera around, and how the result was these awesome looking photos.  I thought that this 4th of July fireworks display was my opportunity to try out this technique.  Below are some of my resulting images:

Getting ready for the show

I think these shots are super fun.  Hope you like them too!

-n

We're getting married!

So its been brought to my attention that I haven't posted any pictures in a really long time.  Its because I've been busy wedding planning! :)  Tyler took me on a wonderful trip to Charleston, South Carolina over Memorial Day weekend and proposed the first evening right before we went to dinner.  And he caught it on camera!  I obviously didn't take the next two pictures - the proposal was caught with my camera timer.  Tyler's super sneaky!


I'm in shock!





Celebratory dinner at Husk

The next morning I had signed Tyler and me up for a photography tour.  It was basically a history walking tour around Charleston, and the tour guide would point out some good photo opportunities.  Tyler used our $70 digital Wal-Mart camera - I'll just post pictures from my camera though. :)

Oh, and one thing to note - I received my 35mm 1.8 lens right before we left on vacation, so all of the following pictures are taken with that lens.  You'll see how the depth of field is really small on some of these pictures - that's because I had the lens open really wide. :)

Bibles and Hymnals in a pew in the oldest church in Charleston

The locals wove these baskets from sweet grass.  They are REALLY expensive, but get passed down throughout generations.

Charleston has a ton of architectural details.  Everywhere you looked there was something unique.

The houses are old and original to Charleston.  These line East Bay Street, right on the water.

Here are just some other pictures I took from our trip:

Tyler and I came to this candy store twice :)

We had lots of celebratory wine!

Donkeys everywhere!

Overall it was such a perfect trip.  I had a perfect proposal from an amazing guy, we ate lots of amazing Southern food, saw a ton of amazing things, and was able to bring all these pictures home to remember our trip. :)

Five Things

 I started following a blog at the beginning of the year called Cupcakes and Cashmere (http://www.cupcakesandcashmere.com/) written by a girl in LA - she blogs daily about all types of things - fashion, recipes, decorating - and I've become obsessed.  She finds the best outfits at affordable stores, has the easiest recipes, and her house is super cute.  She also has a blog post that she does every week or two called Five Things, where she posts photos of five things she really likes at any given moment.  Because I've been super grumpy about work lately, her blog inspired me to think about five things that I really like - outside of work - because, afterall, work is just a job that helps me pay for the things I like.  So, here is my first Five Things blog entry using my new camera:

Sour Patch Kids - Sour, then Sweet :)

Little Max

Pinkberry - this is my usual order - Coconut and chocolate swirl with raspberries, coconut flakes, cheesecake bites, strawberries, and organic gummies :)

The best boyfriend in the world - he brings me to Pinkberry :)

My Nikon D5000 from my parents - this camera has given me a new hobby that I truly love and enjoy!

So there are my Five Things for this week.  I'm going to continue to photograph five things that I make me happy so I'm not negative Nancy everytime a new work week starts. :)

Enjoy!

It's zoom time!

So I've been unacceptably busy lately with weddings, work, and lots of extracurriculars, so I haven't posted any pictures in a very long time - so sorry.  However, I do have some photo updates that I'd like to share:

1. I graduated from photography class at Brookhaven!  It was a lot of fun and I made some friends in class.  There was some information that was review from the original class I took which helped reinforce those things, and then some new things that I learned as well.  The last two classes we did studio shooting which was a lot of fun too.
2. I ordered the Nikkor 35mm 1.8 lens that I talked about it my last post - HOWEVER, its completely sold out everywhere and no one knows when they'll be getting it in.  So sad.  I could buy it for $400+ from retailers that currently have it, but I've opted for the $199 + free shipping that I found, and I'll just have to be patient.
3. Since we all know that I am NOT patient, I bought another lens, which I found on a super sale, which I've already received!  I ordered the 50-200mm f/4.5-5.6 VR zoom lens, and I'm super excited about it.  I've been thinking I needed more zoom power when I've wanted to take pictures of something far away, and this option was rated really high and was a great value, and it has the vibration reduction technology, so that will help with any blur since the focal length will be so long.  I think it will be a great lens for me to have with me on our trip to Charleston!  Here's what it looks like:

So Tyler has left me for the weekend (sad) but I'm on a mission to take some pictures for a new post by Sunday night.  Check back then for pictures!

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 :)