Great Photo of Helen

Tuesday, on my 43rd birthday, I got a great photo of Helen. In doing so, a commonly-recited saying was confirmed once again: always take your camera with you. I took the "beater" D40 with me this morning when I was merely going into town with my wife only to return moments later after taking care of a few things. While waiting for the mother-in-law to return us home (while I left our vehicle at work), Helen & Adrian played in a deserted lot beside her job in a grassy area. It wasn't anything special, but while they played, Helen was sitting on this rock & I saw a photo opportunity. I had to grab it, as Helen doesn't typically make the best poses. This turned out to be a real winner & a testament as to why I almost always have a camera on my person.

Nikon D40, Fine-Large JPEG (not Normal-Large this time), 18-55mm VR, 1/160 second f/6.3 ISO 200. Edited in Lightroom 3 with the {Oh So Posh} actions.

Click to enlarge (20111213_111519_b_lr3_d40)

Isn't that just adorable? She smiled this way for maybe barely a second, she wasn't at all "holding" this pose, thankfully my reflexes & the camera's speed were plenty to capture this very fleeting & adorable moment.

That's why I almost ALWAYS take a camera with me, and a GOOD one--no freaking camera phones for me! This spot where this photo was taken isn't anything special, I was merely there for a few minutes to do some quick tasks before returning straight home, but I wouldn't have obtained this treasure had I left the camera at home.

New Portraits, Niece-Nephews


Body Circus
We now have a Nikon D40 & D5000 (6mp & 12mp d-SLRs respectively). At the time we had the "beater" D5000 only (after I sold my good one to try out a micro 4/3rds only to decide I'd rather not, sold it) & I just couldn't get over the wife using it for things like photos for listings on eBay/Listia etc. So I used the funds from the E-PL1 experiment & got her a Nikon D40 kit, one we owned before (as far back as 2007) for her to have "everyday". (Actually it started out as a D50, couldn't get a D40 cheap enough, but a local guy traded me evenly, as the D50 works better with the older lenses he owned.) This is for her (and me too), more "everyday."

For me: we sold the "beater" D5000 and got another less-used D5000 for the same price, this is for me ALONE as the "good" model (again). I think the "body circus" has settled down for now (as long as I can resist temptations during tax refund season just as I somehow managed to last year).

Also, last August I had purchased on the cheap an Epson Workstation 1100 printer, a large printer which is capable of prints as large as 13x19 inches. I only paid $50 for it including the ink, brand-new, when they normally go for $150 or so. I had never set it up, it sat in the backroom waiting, still in the cellphone plastic. Over the weekend I finally set it up back there. I had some Canon 8x10 paper from before (the other printer didn't like it) and tried it out on it, and it did a really good job. I'm impressed.

The Photos
But anyway, on to what matters--the PICTURES. In fact, these photos inspired me to break out the printer, they were that good to me.

We had our niece Madison overnight Fri-Sat & the in-laws were over Saturday with our nephew Dylan also. Naturally I took some photos, and frankly I got some of the best ones ever.

I used the "everyday" Nikon D40 in Normal-Large JPEG mode, and retouched in Lightroom 3 using the {Oh So Posh} presets. This did result in the shots being rather "jazzed up," which seems to be the going thing these days. (I always keep the originals which are free from such alterations, so I can go back.) For some I used the "kit" lens (the 18-55mm VR), for others I broke out the 50mm 1.8 G lens to get a little fancy-creative.

 #1. Madison, 18-55mm kit lens at 32mm, 1/25 second f/6.3 ISO 200 (how did I get this shot that crisp with only 1/25 second shutter speed?) It was her idea to put this stuffed animal on her shoulder as a "prop," between that & her suggesting good spots, I told her she was going to grow up to take better photos than I do (ha ha). (Attention: SK, if you see this, I speculate you were probably like that 13 years ago, ha ha.)

Click to enlarge (20111210_114338_nl_b_lr3_d40) 

 #2 Madison, 18-55mm kit lens at 55mm. This is perhaps my favorite one. Same pose & location, moments later, I just got closer. 1/60 second f/6.3 at 55.0mm ISO 800.

Click to enlarge (20111210_114558_nl_b_lr3_d40)  

 #3 Madison, 18-55mm kit lens at 55mm. 1/125 second f/5.6 ISO 1100 (wow, ISO 1100?).

Click to enlarge (20111210_142054_nl_b_lr3_d40)

Okay, 2 shots in a row where I'm shooting at 55mm. Maybe it's time to break out the 50mm 1.8 G lens and go for a smoother background? Okay, here we go.

#4 Madison, 50mm 1.8 G lens. 1/125 second at f/2.5 ISO 200. Same spot, notice how much blurrier the background is (which is what I wanted) shooting at f/2.5 instead of f/5.6.

Click to enlarge (20111210_142323_nl_b_lr3_d40)

#5 Dylan, 50mm 1.8 G lens, 1/125 second f/2.5 ISO 200. One of my favorite shots of Dylan ever.

Click to enlarge (20111210_142551_nl_b_lr3_d40)

These are the sorts of shots which just bring such joy to my heart, and make me even think I could possibly do this for a living. Maybe, I don't know--although, as I'm going to be 43 years old tomorrow, I better get to cracking on making SOMETHING my consistent livelihood (ha ha). This may always be "just a hobby" for me (with occasional side income from locals with little money who have me take photos for me since they can't afford a "real" professional), but if so, so be it--it's ridiculously fun to me. If only digital D40 & D5000`s had existed for me years ago when I was in my 20s, what I could've been doing all of this time. Oh well.