2011-12-29

Lots of pictures for today's post... yesterday had such a dramatic sunset, that I was running around the property taking pictures like a mad man... Amazing sunset, raining and a rainbow almost all at the same time!  Totally excited I was home, no vacation and had the camera ready to go.  Something I already knew, but if you want to take pictures at all, one of the biggest secrets is to have your camera with you at all times and ready to shoot!

This shot taken approximately facing South-West...

I I think it would be much nicer if I'd have a much bigger field and less trees, but then again, I kind of like the silhouettes on the horizon... 

I don't know if I've ever seen the sky so fiery yellow before, it was incredible!  I suspect this had to do with the fact that since it was raining, the sky was completely covered with clouds.  For some reason, the clouds opened up on the west where the sun was setting.  Seems to have produced dramatic effects...

This shot taken later, when the sun was already down... remaining light on the clouds produced amazing paintings in the sky!

Same as previous, but landscape shot instead of portrait...

This was the brightest and most defined rainbow I had ever seen.  Unfortunately, because of the area where I live, it was very difficult to get a good shot of the entire rainbow without getting power poles, wires and houses.  Either way, the rainbow was amazing!

There was a double rainbow for a while, but the second rainbow was only well defined for a very, very short period of time (could not get a decent shot of that second rainbow)

For some reason, the sky was very purple-ish!

We obviously geared the kids up to go outside and enjoy the nice scenery... for some reason, the rainbow and sunset was less interesting than pot holes and the muddy property lol!

2011-12-22

A tradition for some reason for the kid's birthdays - helium balloons are a must!  Went away from the usual "happy birthday" balloons and decided on something to brighten up the house instead :)

Depth-of-field test - part 1... this first one is at f5.6...

Depth-of-field test - part 2... this first one is at f36...

Macro of my Washburn acoustic guitar.

My son's new race track - challenging but amusing.

Red clover sprouts, full of great nutrients.

Another from the low light experiments I did the other day... I adjusted color a bit (was too yellow for me).  The single large candle was a beeswax candle, which possibly contributed to the strong yellow tones.

2011-12-21

Had one of the snakes I produced a few years ago for a few hours at my house tonight (gone now).  Took a few pictures that turned out ok, even though the snake was in a shed cycle (colors are not as nice during this time).  Just used automatic settings on camera with on-board flash.

2011-12-17

One of my father-in-law's cats, as seen today.

2011-12-15

My wife opening up a birthday present from a good friend (had a borrowed 50mm f1.8 lens with SB600? flash on camera for this one)

2011-12-15

This image was taken with an exposure of two seconds at ISO400. The only light source was a large candle near by... Many images came out blurred (you have to be very still)

2011-12-15

Self portrait... This image had an exposure time of 5 seconds at ISO 200. One of the few that came out relatively clear - 5 seconds is too long to stay still. The only light source in this picture was a large candle near by.

2011-12-15

This is my son at our friend's place (his birthday is not too long from now). I was able to try my friend's 50mm f1.8 lens and flash (SB600 I think?). Was fun and definitely could see the differences when using the lens and flash - even though I had the same camera (Nikon D60).