New Project/Equipment Change

I have made some recent equipment changes.  I really like the Sigma lenses, so I have traded out one lens for a new one.  I now have a Sigma 18-250 f3.5-6.3 lens.  It should be good for our trip to Alaska this summer.  I can't wait to try it out.  I have also purchased a new camera.  I just bought the Nikon Coolpix P7000.  It is a great compact camera.  In fact, I carry the P7000 with me almost everywhere.  I am starting a new summer project called: Farm Barns, Silos, and Water Towers.  Most, if not all, of these pictures will be taken with my new Coolpix P7000.  Here are a couple of the images to start my collection.

Pictures for a Gloomy Midwest Winter

A little less than 1 year ago I took a trip to Newport Beach California.  May, 2010 to be exact.  I have been to San Francisco a couple of times, but never Southern California.  I am addicted.  SoCal is great.  The weather is perfect and the sights are fantastic.  I was staying in Anaheim.  I asked the concierge for the closest beach and he recommended Newport Beach.  Swore it was a short cab ride (I did not have a rental car).  Turned out to be the most expensive cab ride of my life.  Following are a few of my best pictures of the hour or so I had on the beach in Newport Beach.  I love them anyway, but it does bring back warm thoughts on a cole midwestern winter day.

Sycamore on Sugar Creek

Below is a picture that I took of a sycamore tree (I think) growing in the middle of Sugar Creek.  This was taken shortly after the spring snow melt in 2010.  Sugar Creek runs along the southern border of our neighborhood.  The field just to the north is a designated flood plain.  Every spring it floods in a big way.  During the snow melt, the root system is completely submerged under water.  As spring progresses and the water table lowers, you can clearly see the root system of the tree.  The root system is fascinating and very intricate.  Zoom in and see the details in this picture.  You can see the light flow and water movement in the creek and you can see the light glimmering off of the surface of the water.  The water is very shallow, but deep enough to provide some interesting features to the picture.  Post production is limited.  My D300 takes awesome pictures requiring little post processing other than cropping the photo and making minor changes to the exposure, color, etc....

To see my entire collection of "Pictures of the Week" click below:

http://s78.photobucket.com/albums/j107/jdm01/Picture%20of%20the%20Week/

Black Eyed Susan's and Spruce Tree

This is a picture I took this summer.  I have touched it up only slightly to sharpen the image and brighten the background sky.  This was taken from a flower bed next to the swimming pool in our back yard.  The flowers next to our pool have proven to be a great area for me to take my pictures.  There are many creative situations that I have discovered.  This was from a slightly different perspective.  I took the picture from below the flowers looking up to a very blue sky with a wispy cloud structure in the background.  Even though this was taken in the middle of the day, the harshness of the mid day light was mitigated.  Let me know what you think.

Nov 7, 2010

I have been tinkering with digital photography for a couple of years now.  I am challenged more by technology than I am by the actual photography.  I have a new web-site, a new account on Flickr and I am still trying to figure out Facebook.  I tried Twitter and gave up.  I look forward to tracking my progress in this blog and look forward to any comments you may have.

I started my real dive into photography using a Nikon D50 with a couple of Sigma lenses.  I bought a Sigma 15-50mm f2.8 and a Sigma 50-150mm f2.8 lens.  This was a great starter set.  I replaced the D50 and gave it to her to begin her obsession, but did not realize I had worn out the electronics.  I bought her a D90 as a replacement using all of my original lenses. 

My kit now includes a Nikon D300 bought at a good discount right before the D300s came onto the market.  I already have a digital video recorder so no need for that function on my DSLR.  My lenses no include a Sigma 15-50mm f2.8 with optical stabilization, a Tamron 24-70mm f2.8 and a Nikkor 70-200mm f2.8 with vibration reduction.  I also use a Nikon Speedlight SB-600 for flash.  I have a couple of odds and ends like a Sigma 1.4x teleconverter, a Manfrotto tripod and ball head.  Next up a simple studio lighting kit.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy following along.  I particularly like sports, action and nature photography.  I am beginning to work on portrait photography and I am working on my digital workflow.  Right now I am using mostly Adobe Lightroom 3 and Adobe Photoshop Elements 7.0.  I use Front Page to post my website but will be changing to Dreamweaver CS5 soon enough.

My website is http://www.jdmphotography.us/. 
I can also be found on Flickr at http://www.flickr.com/photos/jdmartin011

Feel free to stop by for a visit.