Archive: October - 2008

Yes, another few pics of these 2 little cuties. Both of them love the camera and having their photo taken, Mika especially loves to see the back of the camera after each shot.

Shooting fast-paced action sports is something I’ve never really done, but I thought today I’d give it a go. I went up to Mt Coramba (Coffs Harbour) to check out some down hill mountain bike racing, something I’ve never seen in person before. I think the last time I actually rode a bike was when I was 16… then I got a licence, then my bike and I parted ways.

Anyhow, ranting aside, here are a few of the pics from today.

After many weekends of procrastination and less than desirable weather, I headed down to Dorrigo National Park yesterday for a good hike and new location for photos. The ‘Wonga Walk’ is almost 6km, along the way winding its way through dense rainforest, with beautiful mountain / valley views as well as a couple of waterfalls.

I then decided to take the road out to the ‘Never Never’ Picnic area, stopping to try my hand at a few HDR landscapes. I’ve never really tried much HDR post-production before, it certainly adds a new element to landscapes with its tonal range.

Just a few shots from walking around the garden the other day. I managed to catch the yellow spider in the act of wrapping up his lunch for a feast later on. Just watching that whole process makes me appreciate the fact we (humans) have fridges and freezers instead of some organic wrap secreted from our bodies.

The little caterpillar was really small, I would guesstimate about 7mm long, maybe 1mm thick. The reflective surface is my car, which has helped me out with bug reflections on more than 1 occassion. If there is any one thing that my car does do reliably and consistently, it is bug reflections.

I don’t want to go into some “over-the-top unpaid soap-box speech”, ranting about how good the D300 is… suffice to say I’m not alone with that opinion. Quite simply, I’m in love! It feels as though it has been very well thought out, no doubt some of the borderline pro qualities in the body lend themselves from the D3.

For all the excitement and curiosity of this new found love affair, I can’t help but feel somewhat guilty. Through the DSLR starved times over the last 4 years of my life, I had a trusty Nikon Coolpix 8700… a camera which is great for beginners with a keen interest to learn, but feel overwhelmed with the DLSR. It allows full manual shutter and aperture control and provides “through the lens view”, rather than an off-set viewfinder. The Coolpix can quite easily be overlooked and underestimated, but its features and lens quality can be quite surprising at times. However, no interchangeable lens’, a slowish auto focus and even slower manual focus made the Coolpix restricting.

But now the Coolpix is over 4 years old, and with current techonlogy trends that probably equates to about 50 human years. It has had its time in the sun, and has served me well. I’m sure at some stage in the future it may come in handy again, but these days it is an older and inferior tool that will be put out to pasture.

So with that said, here are some random snaps from the first few days of the D300.