October Flowers & Mushrooms
Today, when I took the dogs for a walk I decided to bring my camera along. I haven't had very much opportunities to use it recently and needed to get my photo fix in somehow. We have had a very mild fall in Vancouver and there are still plenty of flowers in the neighbourhood. I also came across some mushrooms, and even a few critters.
My route with the dogs
The flowers, I can't believe we still have this many at the end of October!
Some mushrooms
These flowers are still growing in my yard. Maybe this global warming thing isn't so bad ;)
Some of the critters.
Nikon D800 Macro and Focus Stack
When I was mowing the lawn, I came across a bee in the grass. I'm not sure what type of bee it is, but it could be one of the solitary ground dwelling types that can be found here. One of the wings was much shorter than the other and I don't think it could fly. I put the bee in a safe place and took a few shots. The shots were taken with a Nikon D800 and AF-S VR Micro-Nikkor 105mm f/2.8G IF-ED lens. I have another set of photos shot with the 105mm here (lower light, hand-held).
Update: I found out this isn't a bee after all, but a hoverfly (Narcissus fly). It mimics bees as a defense against predators. Very cool.
This shot is a single image converted from RAW but cropped from a much bigger frame. ISO 360, 1/125 second shutter at f/9.
I also took a few more images focus stacked them with Zerene Stacker, turned out better than I expected considering this is also a significant crop.
And a flower I shot shortly after, also a single image converted from RAW.
And an image I shot previously. The detail when shooting the D800 with this lens is just great.
Another visit to the Vancouver Aquarium
I have had a membership at the Vancouver Aquarium for the last few years and I like to visit often. It's a great place to just walk around and relax. I almost always see something new and different. I like to bring my camera, you never know what you will see.
Don't bug me, I'm crabby
Best buds, Gus and Ollie, hyacinth macaws
A Walk on Wreck Beach, Vancouver, BC
I don't always take my camera when I'm out walking the dogs, but since the D800 is new I decided to bring it along today. I was using the Nikkor 105mm f/2.8 VR lens, which I love. All shots hand held, so may not be critically sharp especially when shooting in the shady areas. It's still too early in the year, and too cold, for the nudies to be out so I had the beach to myself.
This is one of my dogs, Jammie. She is a Staffordshire Bull Terrier, small but thinks she is a big dog.
You see some interesting critters when you start getting close
I have also been playing around with black and white images more and more. The D800 captures so much detail and has so much dynamic range you can really get great effects with b&w.
This was a bit random, looks like someone brought it to the beach and stuck it in the sand. I didn't see these growing anywhere.
The horror! Actually they are rather cute, as long as they don't decide to set up shop in my back yard.
And the fern somewhat reminds me of the furry caterpillars.
Poppin' Pollen
Yesterday I noticed what I thought was smoke in the kitchen but had no idea where it was coming from. As I was looking around, I saw that a flower on the counter was shooting out pollen. I have never seen anything like this, so I had to grab my camera and shoot a short video. I have never seen anything like this!
I'm assuming this is not a common sight, otherwise I would have seen it myself before (we have a lot of plants) or I would have seen it somewhere online. Regardless, I had to capture it on video so others would not think I'm crazy :)
Shot with the Nikon D800, 1080p, 105mm f/2.8 VR lens. View the HD video on Youtube.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahIrYtJjMpU
Nikon D800 High ISO Test
This isn't meant to be a critical test, it was just a shot I tried with my new D800. I shot hand held in poor light to see how the camera would do. Compared to my Nikon D90, where the image started to fall apart at ISO 800, the D800 is still going strong at ISO 3200.
Details:
Nikon D800
Micro Nikkor 105mm f/2.8 VR
Aperture: f/4
Shutter: 1/80"
ISO 3200
High ISO noise reduction: normal
Processed from 14-bit lossless compressed raw in Lightroom 4, than ran through Noiseware to clean it up a bit. Overall, very happy with the image, completely usable shot of my dog, Jammie. The room was quite dark, Lightroom brought back the shadows and exposure, there is lots of dynamic range available to play with. (Click for bigger version).
My first images with the Nikon D800
My D800 finally arrived, charged the batteries and headed out with my dogs the next morning. Resisted the urge to photography my keyboard, floor, ceiling, and anything else boring just to play with it. Tried to make the first frame count!
I want to mention that I'm not that happy with the grip of the D800. I have big hands, XL gloves, and it seems small to me. I may just need to get used to it, but it is smaller than I expected. It's not comfortable in the hands, especially with a bigger lens on the body. I may have to buy the grip, which is not something I wanted as I like the size of the body as it is. I'm going to shoot it without the grip for a while, see if I get used to it.
Some people have posted on various forums that their D800 came with a few hundred shutter actuations. I checked the shutter count on my first frame, it was showing "2". Maybe they do a test shot at the factory?
This is the first frame from my camera. I didn't set all of the settings I should have, but it is what it is. Shot using the Nikkor 24-70 f/2.8, auto ISO, aperture priority mode. Processed from 14-bit lossless compressed raw in lightroom. Not the best, but I'm happy with things so far. My dog Cedric, who is always an unwilling participant since there are more interesting things to do at the beach than sit around. And yes, I can see my reflection in his eye.
Any my second shot, same settings. This time of my dog Jammie.
Flower shots below are shot on a sturdy tripod, Nikkor 105 f/2.8 VR, 2 second timer, 3 second exposure delay, live view focus. Processed from 14-bit lossless compressed raw in lightroom. Better, happy with the first samples as I know they will get better from here.
The full resolution jpeg (18MB) can be seen here. The detail captured by the camera is amazing.