The gift of love, of course!

But a D700 doesn’t hurt…

Today, to my utter shock, my wife and the love of my life presented me with a brand new D700. I can’t really say enough about it… it’s an incredible gift and I’m glad to have a wife that supports me and my photography habits!

Every photographer does this. You get a new camera, unwrap it from the box and quickly shoot everything in sight. Testing is important, right? So without further ado… my first few “test” subjects:

ISO 2000. Handheld in bedroom light. (click to enlarge and see zero noise)

It’s Not Art, But It’s A Clean Shot

Stopping In at 1 AM

Okay… I did take a couple of “artistic” photos as well…

Lights

A Farewell to DX

The D700 is one of Nikon’s two “FX” cameras which are the relatively new full-frame digitals. This means the camera sensor is the same size as 35mm film and therefore shoots like film in terms of focal length and field of view. Lenses marked “DX” or “Digital Only” can still be used, but half the resolution is lost. Luckily, my favorite lens (70-200 2.8 VR) is “normal” or “FX” sized, as is my 50mm prime. The 12-24 pictured above, however, will be hitting the auction block.

The real strength of the camera is the quality of lower light photography.  As you can see in some of the examples above, the D700 is capable of very fine detail and low noise in poor light.  I shoot a lot of photos in available light and this is an absolute killer upgrade.

Overall I’m absolutely shocked and thrilled to be holding a D700 in my hands so soon. Thanks, Teresa!

Luigi’s Alley

I was looking around near where I work in D.C. recently when I happened upon this alley.  Not just any alley, but Luigi’s alley.  I like the way the light was that day, and I like the glow on the pipe to the left of the frame.  In general, I just enjoyed shooting this photo.  I did bring up some of the shadow detail in Lightroom and work with the contrast just a little bit.

Wordpress has released an app for iPhone which allows full posting capability including categories and tags from anywhere. Pretty neat. I’m posting from it now so we will see how this goes.

Did you know there is a whole web site not only dedicated to collecting photo contests, but also evaluating each one for suspicious ToA items and unfair rules that could wind you up with no rights to your own images? There is, and you can find it right here. It’s a great idea and a good page to check out once in a while.

Many photo contests (including a certain high-profile one from Microsoft) have Terms of Agreement that include essentially full ownership of your image. Not only can the contest runners use your image in any way they like; they can even prevent you from using it! Don’t fall into this trap. Contests are fun and great but you should always check the rules and terms.

Scott Kelby and Jeff Revell have put together the first ever World Wide Photowalk. I’ll be attending the DC one which will be held in Old Town Alexandria. Not every country has a walk planned yet but there are still cities being added. Space is limited in some cities so register your spot today!

I think this is a neat concept and I know Old Town is rich in photo material, so I’m quite looking forward to this.