Gear Talk

Copyright ©2017 Deborah M. Zajac. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Nikon is having a sale or instant rebates going on right now. Several of the high end Prosumer Cameras are in this sale. Some are bundled with lenses, and all come with some freebies to sweeten the deal.  Nikon comes out with new cameras every 2-4 yrs.  It normally is 2+ years, but there are sometimes set backs which push out the dates.

I jumped on the sale and picked up a Nikon D810. The tech inside the camera is 3 yrs old so, I’m sure there’s some kinda wonderful new camera coming down the pipe later this year, but for me this camera is a huge jump up in tech. It will replace my 6+ year old D700.  There’s still a lot of life left in the D700, but she has been my wildlife camera since my D300s’ auto focus motor went out.

It wasn’t worth the price to fix the D300s so, the D700 is what I have been using.  It has 12.3 MP and cropping in on little birds has been limited.  Stepping up the D810 with its 36MP I’ll have room to crop heavily and not lose resolution, and for landscapes, macro, and studio work the images will contain all sorts of lovely details that will be wonderful when making big prints.

As you might imagine I’ve been photographing things with the new camera testing it out since it arrived on Tuesday. I’ve been tweaking it; getting the buttons and dials, and features set up the way I like them.  Here’s a look at some of what I’ve been photographing last week.

Thursday night’s sunset at Lake Vasona. Nikon D810 + 50mm f/1.8G

High Pass resize Vasona Dusk

I spent all day shooting with friends on Saturday at San Jose Municipal Rose Garden and other venues.  The garden was awash in color! Nikon D810 + Nikkor 105mm f/2.8D micro

Fill the Frame

3 Garden Arches D810 + Nikkor 105mm f/2.8D micro

3 Arched Trellis'

A Bird of Paradise in the Garden at the Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum.

D810 + Nikkor 105mm f/2.8D micro

Bird of Paradise

…and Mother’s Day Sunset at Lake Vasona using the 35mm f/1.8G lens my children gave me for my Birthday/Mother’s Day.  I’ve have wanted this lens since it came out several years ago. I sold my old 35mm f/2D lens about the time this lens came out with the intention of buying the new lens, but I never did

get one. There was always something else that I needed to have so couldn’t afford it.  I am thrilled and so blessed to have been gifted this lens. D810 + Nikkor 35mm f/1.8G micro

Vasona Lake Sunset Mother's Day

I really love how quiet the shutter is on the camera, and it’s a bit lighter than my D700. The grip is deeper which is nice when holding it, and the buttons are laid out perfectly for my hands.  A couple of buttons have been moved to new places on this camera and I’m getting used to that, but overall I’m really happy with this purchase. I think it’s going to be a pretty great all-around camera which will give my trusty Df a break, and retire my D700.

Nikon D810| Nikkor 105mm f/2.8D, 35mm f/1.8G & 50mm f/1.8G | Hoodman Digital Film| PS CC 2017

More to come…

2017 National Train Day

Copyright ©2017 Deborah M. Zajac. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Since Dan over at No Facilities   blog reminded his followers about National Train Day last year I have been looking for trains to photograph and saving them up for future National Train Day Posts.  This year I’d like to share a little Red Engine that I’ve been saving since last September.

Some friends and I spent 3 days on Route 66.  Our base was in Barstow, California.  Not far from Barstow, CA is the Ghost town of Calico, CA.  We spent an afternoon and evening there.  For the History Buffs I’ve gleaned some information from Wikipedia about the Ghost Town, and the railroad that once operated there.

It was once a bustling mining town. “It was founded in 1881 which is when the largest silver strike was found in California. Over a 12 year span, Calico has 500 mines which produced over $20 million in silver ore. Unfortunately Calico lost it population in the mid-1890s because silver lost its value. “~Wikipedia

In the 1950’s Walter Knott bought Calico and restored it as a Living Museum. He restored the architecture to look like it did in the 1880’s.  Several of the original buildings and railroad equipment were moved to Knotts Berry Farm’s “ghost town” exhibit, but most of it remains in the town.  The Calico Ghost Town is now part of San Bernadino’s County Regional Park System.

We missed the train actually running but I did grab a shot of the little red engine.

Copyright © Deborah M. Zajac
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

“The Calico & Odessa Railroad is a 2 ft 6 in (762 mm) narrow gauge[1] heritage railroad in the ghost town of Calico, California, headquartered in Yermo, California. It was named for the town and mountain range of Calico and the nearby Odessa Canyon.[2]

It is a remake of the 3 ft (914 mm) narrow gauge Waterloo Mining Railroad, the original narrow gauge railroad line that hauled silver ore (and later borax) from Calico to the mills of Daggett in the 1880s, although the present-day tracks do not follow the trackbed of the original one.”~ Wikipedia

I hope everyone has a wonderful week-end!

Nikon Df| Nikkor 28-105mm| Delkin Digital Film| PS CC 2017

More to come…

 

 

 

Happy Mother’s Day!

Copyright ©2017 Deborah M. Zajac. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

I know I’m early, but I won’t be online much over the week-end.  I want to wish all the Mother’s reading this a very Happy Mother’s Day!  I hope you all have a lovely day, and wonderful week-end.

African Daisy Image 14

Gerbera with Tiny Planet

Nikon D810| Nikkor 105mm macro|Hoodman Digital Film| PS CC 2017 and bottom image I also used the Tiny Planet iPhone app

More to come…

 

 

Wordless Wednesday 19/52 “Mockingbirds don’t do one thing but make music for us to enjoy. They don’t eat up people’s gardens, don’t nest in corncribs, they don’t do one thing but sing their hearts out for us. That’s why it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.” ― Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird

Copyright © 2017 Deborah M. Zajac. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Mockingbird

Nikon D700| Nikkor 200-500mm| Lexar Digital Film| PS CC 2017

More to come…

Rare Leucistic Hummingbird

Copyright © 2017 Deborah M. Zajac. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

I had heard there was a rare white Hummingbird in Santa Cruz at UC Santa Cruz’s Arboretum last year, but didn’t see it when I was there photographing Allen’s Hummingbirds that come to winter there.

This year a friend and I went over to find the tree it had been spotted  hanging out in and we found both the tree and the rare white Hummingbird straight-away.

Rare White Hummingbird

Here’s a  description of Leucism, “Leucism, a developmental condition resulting in the loss of pigmentation. Unlike albino birds, which can’t produce the pigment melanin, leucistic birds produce melanin but can’t deposit it into their feathers. Albino birds also have red or pink eyes, but this hummingbird’s eyes are black, along with its bill and feet.

What makes this Hummingbird so rare is that it is almost completely white. Most leucistic birds are only partially affected, and have white patches of feathers amid colored plumage.”~Audubon.org

I spoke with a woman working at the Arboretum after my visit to find out if this is the same Leucistic Anna’s Hummingbird that was there last May and she said, “they believe it is”.

Leucistic Hummingbird

It’s so striking, and pretty isn’t it?   Poor thing has some kind of infection on its bill. I asked about that too, but they haven’t captured the Hummer to do any tests on it. So, they don’t know what the infection is. She did say  he’s (it’s a male) getting better and the Hummingbird is zipping around acting healthy so, they’re letting nature run its course.

Leucistic Allen's Hummingbird

It flew away from its tree a few times, and I found it in the little fountain bathing but I wasn’t quick enough to get a photo of that. Unfortunately I spooked it.  I did manage a few images of it preening and cleaning its feathers afterwards though. Here’s one.

Preening Rare White Hummingbird

It was quite a treat to find this beauty so quickly, and observe it for a short while. It’s the first Leucistic bird of any kind I’ve ever seen.

I hope it returns next year and I’m lucky enough to see it again.

I hope you all have a wonderful week-end!

Nikon D700| Nikkor 200-500mm| Hoodman STEEL Digital Film| PS CC 2017

More to come…

Thursday Doors Vintage Wood Stove

Copyright © 2017 Deborah M. Zajac. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

I haven’t been posting door(s) weekly on Thursday Doors, but I’ve been photographing interesting doors at every opportunity. 🙂

I spied this vintage wood stove at Daffodil Hill Farm in mid March when I went up to photograph the Daffodils in bloom.  I love the rust, and decorations on it.  I have no idea how old or what brand it is.  It does say 1870 above the top set of doors, but that could only mean it’s when the company was founded.

The Daffodil in bloom just offset of the stove was placed perfectly for this composition I thought.

Vintage Wood Stove Doors

This post is part of Norm 2.0’s Thursday Doors.  If you love doors and would like to see the doors others are posting, or post doors you’ve photographed and join other door lovers from around the world click here.

At the end of Norm’s latest Thursday Door post is a little Blue Link-up/View button click it to be taken to a page with all the links to view all the posts, and add your own if you’re a door enthusiast too.

Nikon Df| Nikkor 50mm f/1.8G| Delkin Digital Film| PS CC 2017

More to come…