Nikon D700 – Page 7 – Circadianreflections Blog

Planetary Conjunction

February 27, 2012February 27, 2012Posted in Astrophotograhpy, California, Nikon, PhotographyTagged Astrophotography, Jupiter, Moon, Night Photography, Nikkor, Nikon, Nikon D700, Photography, Planetary Conjunction, Venus2 Comments

Thanks Dali and Andy for reminding me about this astronomical event. Jupiter, Venus, and the Moon lined up in a triangle to form a special conjunction on Feb. 25, 2012. We spent a lot of time online emailing each other about places we liked to shoot this. I kept looking at this area of the city and I asked the guys to look at it too. After the guys looked at it on TPE (The Photographer’s Ephemeris) they too liked it and we decided to shoot it here. Andy didn’t join us he decided to make some progress on his computer project so it was Dali, Phil, and I who shot here. It was fun, but cold!

The forecast called for a clear sky, but what we had were intermittent clouds, and a low fog bank. As soon as Venus dropped into the fog we called it a night. The Crescent Moon is in those clouds, but Jupiter and Venus are clearly visible.

To see what Dali shot go here

To see Phil’s photo go here

Black-crowned Night-Heron

February 11, 2012February 11, 2012Posted in Birds, California, Nature, Nikon, Photography, WildlifeTagged Black-crowned Night Heron, Nikkor, Nikon, Nikon D700Leave a comment

When in range the 70-300mm VR really is a good lens! (click photo to view it large. It looks awful compressed to this size!) We had an overcast sky yesterday, but for a few brief moments the sun peeked through the clouds and lit him nicely just as if I ordered it.
This is my best Black-crowned Night-Heron to date. I wish all the birds I chase were within range of my lens.

Nikon D700| Nikkor 70-300mm @ 300mm| f7.1| 1/500 sec| ISO 500| Manual Mode| Hand-held

Golden Eagle

January 17, 2012January 17, 2012Posted in Birds, California, Nature, Nikon, Photography, WildlifeTagged Birds of Prey, Golden Eagle, Nature, Nikon D700, Photography, Winter MigrationLeave a comment

Myself and two girlfriends spent the day out in the country looking for birds to photograph. Late in the afternoon I spied this big guy on the side of a hill. My friend Theresa was driving and I said, “What is that? Is that a turkey?” As she slowed down and we drew closer I was thrilled to see it was a Golden Eagle as big as a Turkey hen!

He spooked easily. The sound of our cameras clicking had him airborne in a flash!

Shooting from the passenger side of the car and through the open driver’s side window I was able to get off 3 shots before he was out of my line of sight.

This was the first time I’ve ever seen one in the wild and this close. It was so exciting. While this isn’t an award-winning photo I’m still floating and elated that I got this shot.

Nikon D700| Nikkor 70-300 @ 300mm| f7.1| 1/1000 sec | ISO 1000| Manual Mode| Hand-held

“Christmastime is here, happiness and cheer, fun for all that children call, their favorite time of the year.” ~Charlie Brown’s Christmas

December 9, 2011December 9, 2011Posted in California, Holidays, Nikon, PhotographyTagged All rights reserved, Christmas, Christmas decorations; Traditions, Night Photography, Nikkor, Nikon, Nikon D700, Photograpy3 Comments

I’ve taken my camera and tripod with me while taking Diva Dog for her evening walk to take photos of the most elaborate houses I come across. These two houses have been the most well thought out and presented so far.

San Francisco Night Impressions

November 5, 2011November 5, 2011Posted in Nikon, PhotographyTagged Impressionist Photography, Nikon D700, Photography2 Comments

In early October I started experimenting with Impressionist Photography. I had read an article by Eva Polak, and had been studying her work for a couple of weeks and thought the Aspens of the Eastern Sierras would be a great place to try some techniques. I tried “movement” and “panning”, and failed brilliantly! When I got home and uploaded my frames I deleted every frame. I also tried defocusing. I kept 2 of those.

I’ve continued to play with the movement technique, but still am not achieving the result I want. I’m having better results defocusing. I used that here in this night city street scene. I’m going to continue to play with the movement technique. Hopefully one day I’ll get it. Landscapes are in my blood, but it has been fun challenging myself to try something new and get out of my “box”. I certainly have a new appreciation for the talent and work of those like Eva Polak, and others who excel in fine art photography.

To see Eva Polak’s work go here:
http://www.evapolak.com/home.html

Nikon D700| Nikkor 85mm| f5| 1/100sec| ISO 25600| Shutter Priority| Tripod

Sunset on the Lake

October 30, 2011October 30, 2011Posted in Landscapes, Nature, Nikon, Photography, TravelTagged Lake Tahoe, Nature; Landscapes; Sunsets, Nikon D700, PhotographyLeave a comment

Sunset on the Lake, originally uploaded by dmzajac2004-.

Inspired by several flickr contacts to shoot this location myself I put it on my “Bucket List”. I was in Hope Valley yesterday hoping to score one last day of shooting Autumn colors, alas all the leaves were gone and those that remained looked fried. So, two friends and I switched gears and drove to Lake Tahoe to find Bonsai Rock. We weren’t really that far away at this point so why not?
We found the location and hiked down the 100-150ft of steep, slippery terrain and scouted out several possible shots.
Then we hiked back up and drove up the highway enjoying the views to pass the time.

We got back to Bonsai Rock well before sunset then we hiked back down and set up to wait for the sunset. The color wasn’t as spectacular as I had hoped, but I won’t complain. It was so quiet, and peaceful listening to the water gently hitting the rocks , and hearing the birds sing, all the while my eyes scanned the scene taking in the gradual color shifts and beauty that surrounded me.
I’m hoping to do a sunrise here someday. This location stays on the bucket list! This whole area is beautiful and definitely worth repeated trips.
On another note- The more I use my D700 the more I love it. The Dynamic range this camera gets is amazing!

A huge shout out to those who inspired me to venture out to his location with their beautiful photographs of this spot- MattyD90, M. Shaw, and Steve Sieren. You can find their work in flickr.

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