Month: May 2012

Nikon News!

Posted in Gear, Nikon, PhotographyTagged , , 2 Comments

Nikon has been busy. They issued a Firmware update on the D4 and D800. This firmware update fixes several issues.

D800E firmware update B1.01

D800 firmware update B1.01

D4 firmware update

Nikon USA firmware  update list

They’ve  also filed a number of patents. One of which is an 18mm f1.8 FX =full frame lens. I hope this one comes about, and is affordable. I’d buy it to add to my Prime lens collection. Currently my fastest wide 18mm prime is f3.5. It’s a wonderful old lens and works great for being 37 yrs. old,  but faster is better when shooting the stars at night.

They’ve also filed a patent for a 20mm f1.8mm for those of you who like the 20mm focal length.

H/T Nikon Rumors

In honor of the Golden Gate Bridge’s 75th Birthday

Posted in California, Nikon, Photography, TravelTagged , , , , , 2 Comments

Copyright © 2012 Deborah M. Zajac. All Rights Reserved.

Today is the Golden Gate Bridge’s  75th birthday. There’s going to be a party with fireworks shot right from the bridge tonight. The crowd is going to be BIG! I decided to stay away from the city, and not fight the traffic in and out of the city.

So instead of posting a historic photo or two shot tonight of the Golden Gate Bridge with Fireworks I’ve decided to honor the birthday by sharing a few photographs of the GGB that I’ve taken the last few years.

2010 Golden Gate Bridge through the fog.

2011

Golden Gate Bridge North Tower

Golden Gate Bridge South Tower from Fort Point, San Francisco

Golden Gate Bridge when the lights just came on.

Golden Gate Bridge from the Marin Headlands

2012- Panorama from Slacker Hill in the morning

It’s a beautiful bridge to shoot day or night, and one I’ll never tire of photographing.  I hope to photograph it many more times before its 100th birthday!

Nikon issues an Update to View NX

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Nikon issues update to ViewNX.

“When printing images with Print As: in the Printer Setup dialogue box set to Full Page and the Print Information box checked, images were printed with excessive margins, regardless of the options selected for printing in the Advanced Print Information Settings dialogue box. This issue has been resolved. ”

Get the download at the link   https://nikoneurope-en.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/52615

H/T Nikon Rumors

Copyright © 2012 Deborah M. Zajac. All Rights Reserved.

Test Driving Adobe’s ACR 7.0

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Copyright © 2012 Deborah M. Zajac. All Rights Reserved.

I recently received the new version of Photoshop CS6. I downloaded it and had some time to play with ACR 7.0 today.

ACR is the acronym for Adobe Camera RAW. The latest version has had a total revamp. They’ve retooled all the sliders and the algorithm giving us more control to recover highlights, shadows the blacks, and whites.

They’ve replaced the Recovery slider with several new sliders.imagethey’ve given us a Whites, Blacks, Highlights, and Shadows sliders.

I’ve got quite a few files in my archives that I’ve been saving for the time my editing software would be able to recover the data and save the photo. Let’s look at what I’ve been able to recover today.

I took this photo in January 2012 while on a New Year’s Trip in the Eastern Sierras with friends. I haven’t done any retouching to it at all in this shot. I only added my tag, and resized it for the web.

It’s completely blow out in the upper left sky where the sun was shining, and a lot of the mountain range is lost in the shadow. I thought I used my 2 stop Graduated Neutral Density filter on this shot, but by the looks of it I grabbed my 1 stop by accident.

Here’s what I was able to recover using CS6 new ACR 7.0.

It’s amazing the amount of color  that I was able to recover, and there are even a few wispy clouds there that couldn’t be seen!

I made all the adjustments in ACR using the new highlights, shadows, whites, and black sliders. I also adjusted the contrast,  and exposure then I opened  it in Photoshop to remove some spots, add my tag, and resize it for the web.

ACR 7.0 made the upgrade worth it to me.

 

 

“I’m waiting for you Morning Star…herald of the dawn.” ~ Deborah M. Zajac

Posted in California, Landscapes, Nature, Nikon, Photography, TravelTagged , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Copyright © 2012 Deborah M. Zajac. All Rights Reserved.

“Rise quickly for I am numb with Winter’s morning chill.
My fingers ache for your warm embrace.”~

That’s my plea every sunrise shoot, and to be honest most nights too! My fingers are the first to go numb, and I’ve not found a hand-warmer or pair of gloves to keep me warm enough to thwart the chill.

This is a shot from Convict Lake taken the third morning of 2012.  Seeing sunrises like the one my friends and I saw on this morning make the early rise, drive time, and standing in the cold worth it!

Nikon D700| Nikkor 17-35@17mm| f13| 10 seconds| ISO200| Manual Priority| Tripod

Annular Solar Eclipse May 20, 2012

Posted in Astrophotograhpy, PhotographyTagged , , , , , , 4 Comments

Copyright © 2012 Deborah M. Zajac. All Rights Reserved.

Several friends and I went to the Nevada desert to view and photograph the Annular Solar Eclipse from the centerline.
After weeks of calculations to determine the best spot to be on the centerline, and be doable in a day we had a couple of choices and nailed down our final choice Sat. Thanks to Rico’s, Phil’s, and Andy’s awesome calculations we were spot on the centerline.
As the afternoon wore on more photographers, and Eclipse viewers gathered around us to view the celestial show. One guy hiked up with a huge telescope. Kids big and small liked looking though that.

Here’s where we were based. That guy down there with the hat is setting up his Spotting Scope. There were cameras, lenses, and telescopes of all sizes. Some folks came out just to view it.

Wearing the right eye gear!


It was work for me. I don’t own a motorized tracker so I had to manually track the sun, making adjustments every 1-2 minutes for the entire 2.5 hours of the Eclipse.
It was worth the effort.  This is also the first time I’ve photographed an Eclipse from start to finish then process the phases in Photoshop. It may be a bit uneven…forgive me! I couldn’t get my guides to work in my workspace so I eyeballed it.  I am pleased I was able to do this at all. I need to give a shout out to PJ for reminding that copy/paste works to do a step I needed too. Thank you!

Looking at my Poster are the phases of the Eclipse. Starting on the left is the beginning of the Eclipse with the “Ring of Fire” in the middle followed by the final pass of the Moon as it made its way across the sun. If you look close you can see the Sun Spots! It was the neatest thing to see from start to finish.

Our little group setting up and getting ready to shoot the Eclipse. I’m off to the right in the hat.  Although that man behind me wasn’t part of our group. He was a spectator who said he’s traveled all over to view Eclipses.  Thank you Rico for the Photo!

And to my traveling and planning companions THANK YOU, Anne, Dali, Phil, Steven, Andy, and Rico for a great day!

Nikon D300s| Nikkor 80-200mm + Tamron 1.4x TC| Manual Priority| Tripod| various shutter speeds, ISO 400| f11

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