Nikon – Page 23 – Circadianreflections Blog

Milky Way over Mt Shasta & Shastina

May 22, 2017May 22, 2017Posted in Astro Photography, Milky Way, Mt Shasta, Nikon, Photography, TravelTagged Ladies Week-end, Lake Shastina, Milky Way, Mt Shasta, Mt Shastina, Night Photography, Nikon, Reflections, Road Trip, Stars65 Comments

I had a fun week-end with my good friend Theresa shooting stars, and Alpine Glow on Mt. Shasta and Mt. Shastina.

We arrived at Lake Shastina Friday afternoon and hiked 250ft up a rocky, loose soiled fire road to do some scouting and look for a good composition of Mt Shasta/Shastina for sunset.

There were too many tall trees up there blocking the view, and the wind had kicked up a bit wrecking the reflection of the Volcano in the lake so we hiked back down the road to a spot we liked. On the way down my right foot slipped on a patch of loose, and rocky dirt and down I went knee first. My lower leg landed with my boot/foot outward and my inner shin hit a rock when it landed. I swore. A lot.

I knew it wasn’t broken, and I could put some weight on it so I limped down to the chosen spot. T suggested we leave for the motel and get ice and rest for the rest of the night. No! I wanted to get the shot! I applied RICE when we got back to our motel and got up ready to shoot on Saturday.

I wouldn’t be hiking, but we had a very full day of flowers, waterfalls, an old lumber town, star trails, and we ended our Saturday photographing the Milky Way. I made this image just before midnight.

Milky Way over Mt. Shasta and Mt Shastina

I was so happy to be under so many stars again! I’m thankful for the time I spent hanging out with T, not breaking my leg/knee, for a husband who “gets” me, and has always supported me, my hobbies, and dreams even when they aren’t his dreams or hobbies, and I’m thankful for seeing this beautiful place again. I’m ready to go back! 🙂

I hope you all have a wonderful week!

More to come…

Arizona Sunflower and more

May 18, 2017May 18, 2017Posted in Cultivated Flowers, LensBaby Composer Pro, Macro Photography, Nikon, PhotographyTagged Bokeh, Depth of Field, Flowers, Green, I love blur, LensBaby Composer Pro, Macro, Nikon, Orange, Photography, Soft Focus, Yellow39 Comments

I took my D810 mounted with my LensBaby Composer Pro out for a walk looking for flowers in the neighborhood the other day. I put the Soft Focus Optic in the Composer along with the 16mm macro adapter; here’s a few images from that walk.

Arizona Sunflower at f/2- I love that blur!

Arizona Sun Flower

Artichoke f/2

Artichoke

a Rose f/4- I wanted to get a bit more in focus so stopped it down a stop.

It looks like my LensBaby will get along fine with the D810.

I’m off for a “ladies long week-end” with a good friend. We plan to hike in the mountains by a lake, and do a lot of photography. I hope the sky is clear so we can photograph the stars at least one night.

I hope you all have a lovely week-end. I’ll catch up when I return.

More to come…

Wordless Wednesday 20/52 In the garden with Pharaoh and Amun

May 17, 2017May 17, 2017Posted in Ancient Egyptian Arts, Arts, Nikon, Photography, Sculpture, Wordless WednesdayTagged Amun, Ancient Eyptian Art, Arts, Coulter's Matilija Poppies, Nikon, Photography, Rosicrucion Egyptian Museum, Santa Clara County, Sculpture, Wordless Wednesday18 Comments

Amen in the form of a Ram protecting Pharaoh

Nikon D810| Nikkor 105mm f/2.8D| Hoodman Digital Film| PS CC 2017

More to come…

Gear Talk

May 15, 2017May 15, 2017Posted in Cultivated Flowers, Landscapes, Nikon, Nikon Gear, PhotographyTagged Cultivated Flowers, Flowers, Gear talk, Landscapes, Nikon, Photography, Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum, San Jose Municipal Rose Garden, Santa Clara County, Vasona Lake56 Comments

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

May 13, 2017May 12, 2017Posted in National Historic Landmarks, National Train Day, Nikon, Photography, Trains, Travel and TourismTagged Barstow CA, Locamotives, Narrow Gauge Trains, National Historic Sites, National Train Day, Nikon, Photography, Trains, Travel and Tourism16 Comments

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.

“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!

May 12, 2017May 11, 2017Posted in Cultivated Flowers, Flowers, Holidays and Observances, Macro Photography, Nikon, PhotographyTagged Cultivated Flowers, Flowers, Gerbera, Holidays and Observances, Macro photography, Mother's Day, Nikon, Tiny Planet App, White, Yellow33 Comments

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

May 10, 2017May 9, 2017Posted in Bird Photography, birding, Birds in the Wild, Birds of North America, Nikon, Photography, Santa Clara County Birding, Wordless WednesdayTagged Bird Photography, Bird Watching, Birding, Birds of North America, Harper Lee, Nature Photography, Nikon, Northern Mockingbird, Quotes, To Kill a Mockingbird, Wordless Wednesday22 Comments

Mockingbird

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

More to come…

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