Archive for January, 2010

Nikon D80 Challenge #107 – Round

Here’s what we were asked to do for the D80 Challenge #107:

Round can simple described as a “Circle”. Circles are simple closed curves which divide the plane into two regions, an interior and an exterior.

OK…that’s the technical jargon. We all know what Round is and can identify objects that are round in shape. Your challenge couldn’t be much easier. Locate something that is “Round” and turn it into a creative photograph. We must clearly be able to determine which object you’ve chosen as your round subject.

Yeah, yeah this is pretty basic, but time has not been on my side the past couple of months. I wanted to make the challenge and it was cold outside, so I decided to look for round objects around the house. This was the most obvious.

Exposure:      0.1 sec (1/10)
Aperture:     f/25.0
Focal Length:     17 mm
Focal Length:     17.3 mm
ISO Speed:     320
Exposure Bias:     +1/3 EV
Flash:     No Flash

Late Practice Christmas Photos

Since most people still have their Christmas decorations up, I guess I’m not too late with the pictures. I thought I’d share a couple of pictures I took over my Christmas vacation. I just recently got a used Tamron 17-50mm 2.8 lens at a really good price and wanted to test it out in some low light situations. I would have like to have gotten the Nikon equivalent, but I really couldn’t justify the cost. All in all, I’d have to say it’s a good lens. I’ve been wanting a decent zoom lens for a while and this one definitely lives up to its reviews.

All of these pictures were hand held because I knew the camera would do well with a tripod. The first set of pictures are in Downtown Dallas. I hadn’t been there in a while and didn’t know they completed the park, so I decided to stop and get a couple of shots. They had so many other nighttime shots I wanted to get, but finding a place to park for a few minutes was tough.

The second set of photos were taken in San Antonio. I’ve finally started taking the white balance off Auto and think I may start doing it more often. The camera does a good job of choosing the best setting, but sometimes manual is the way to go.

The third set of photos were taken New Year’s Eve. My wife and I got a chance to go out without the kids for dinner and a movie. After having dinner in Plano, we took a little stroll around the Shops at Legacy. I had my camera and decided to get some shots of the area. It was cold, but nice that night.

For those photo enthusiasts, if you click the view on flickr link, you’ll be able to see the camera settings I used.