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“Lo, the poor Indian! whose untutored mind Sees God in clouds, or hears him in the wind; His soul proud Science never taught to stray, Far as the solar walk or milky way”~Alexander Pope

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Copyright © 2011 Deborah M. Zajac. All Rights Reserved.

Playing with high ISO, the D700, and the stars. Still trying to nail the Milky Way shot.
The latest Nikon announcement in which they told us about more than 6 Coolpix cameras coming soon when I was hoping the D700 replacement would be announced with a pre-Christmas release date was a disappointment to say the least.

I wouldn’t have been an early adopter, but had hoped by Spring I’d be the owner of a Full Frame camera.
This announcement came on the heels of my hiking trip to Clouds Rest in Yosemite National Park where a Full Frame Camera would have been wonderful for capturing more sky or foreground, and my good friend Dali sent me a text message while I was on Clouds Rest saying, ” I bought a D700. SJ Camera has 3 more in stock. When you get home go buy one!”
I was feeling so underwhelmed and frustrated with the wait knowing I could be waiting until next summer to buy one.

I came home and weighed the Pros and Cons for buying the D700.
My lists:
Pros:
Can get it now. No more missed shots!
My 17-35 would be used as meant to be used
Would have Ultra Wide Angle lens
Uses same cables and batteries as the D300s
Higher ISO-low light sensitivity
Nicer picture contrast, colors
Faster fps
More focus points
Better weather sealing
Well regarded and loved in the field by users
I have several primes and Pro FX lenses already
Haven’t bought a Tilt-Shift lens yet

Cons
Old technology; it’s 3+ years old
Uses CF cards only
Flash unit blocks full functionality of Tilt/Shift lens
Heavy

The Pros outweighed the Cons in my mind. I called the store. They had one D700 left. I decided to go down there. IF they still had it in I would try it out and buy it. I took my time getting down there. When I got there they still had it. I bought it.
I’ve had it just over a week now and though I’ve not used it a lot I am very happy with the performance and handling of it so far.
Just look how much sky I was able to get in this shot! I even cropped off some of the foreground.
The colors and contrast are just as I hoped -great, and the meter seems to be spot on! The unit I rented back in March over exposed this one doesn’t.
Technology will continue to get better, and the replacement to the D700 can be announced next week. I’m a content photographer! It’s such a relief to be done waiting and stop wanting.
I plan to spend the next few years working on making better photographs.

Nikon D700| Nikkor 17-35@ 17mm| f3.5| 20 seconds| ISO 3200| Manual Mode| Tripod| Release Cable

Milky Way from the Trail

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Milky Way from the Trail, originally uploaded by dmzajac2004-.

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Copyright © 2011 Deborah M. Zajac. All Rights Reserved.
On my second night hike up to Clouds Rest with some night sky photographer enthusiast we stopped on this great granite rock to take some photographs of the night sky. With a crescent moon the sky was a lot darker than my first hike up, and the Milky Way was more visible. I’ve been wanting to capture a great Milky Way shot for a long time. I don’t think I have nailed it yet, but I’m closer. The most amazing thing about this shot is that I could not see with my naked eye the orange and yellow light pollution, but the camera could. When I looked at my playback after the first shot I was thrilled with the color and the texture in the clouds. I hoped it looked as good at home on my computer.
Does anyone have any tips on post editing Milky Way shots to bring out the best of it? I tweaked fill, blacks, clarity, vibrance, sharpened, and a little recovery.

It was a great hike, and I made it up that last bit to the top and beyond. I’ve got a couple of more photos I’ll share from this hike and still one or two from the first hike up.

Hike stats:
Total Miles 14.2
Elevation Gain 3,687ft
Total Time hike and photography 13 hours
Not a lot of sleep on this trip either, but I did doze on the mountain while my camera worked, and in the car on the way home. I left home at 4pm on Aug. 23rd and got home just after 6PM on Aug. 24th. Yes, I’d do it again.

Nikon D300s| Nikkor 17-35 @ 17mm| f2.8| 30 seconds| ISO 1600| Manual Mode| Tripod w/release cable

Yosemite Dawn and the Full Moon

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Copyright © 2011 Deborah M. Zajac. All Rights Reserved.
Getting as close to the edge as I dared I could make out the top of Half Dome and looking out toward the horizon you can see El Captian and Yosemite Valley below in the hazy morning. The haze may be from the smoke of morning camp fires in the valley below.
The view up here is awesome, and overwhelming. I’m so small! Definitely in my lifetime…this was an EPIC HIKE!

Nikon D300s| Nikkor 18mm @ f22| 1/13sec| ISO 400| Manual Mode| Tripod| Cable release

Full Moon over Cloud’s Rest

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Full Moon over Cloud’s Rest, originally uploaded by dmzajac2004-.

Via Flickr:
Copyright © 2011 Deborah M. Zajac. All Rights Reserved.
This is the last 100ft of Cloud’s Rest. You can go over to the other side from the top where there is a ledge wide enough for several people and tripods.
I didn’t go up there. Perhaps next time I’ll not have any adverse reaction to the altitude and be able to go up there.

Nikon D300s| Nikkor 18mm @ f22| 1/160 sec| ISO 400| Manual Mode| Tripod| Cable Release