Exploring the wonders of creation through a 50mm lens...and other lenses too.

This photo was quite unexpected, but I am rather pleased with how it turned out and would like to try this sort of thing again. I went on a brief photo walk with one of my coworkers the other day, and saw her looking up at the trees and taking snapshots with her iPhone. For some reason this concept had not really occurred to me before, and I thought I would try replicating what she was doing. She talked about how cool it was to see the leaves light up with the sun behind them, and she sure was right. It was a little tricky trying to nail the exposure, and it helped that I set the shutter button to lock exposure while using the back button for focusing. The other issue was aperture, as I had no idea what kind of depth of field I was even looking for. Since the screen on my D200 is so tiny it’s hard to visualize this when out shooting, so I tried a couple different values and but knew that anything beyond f/4 would probably not have much DOF to speak of. Thankfully this picture at f/3.3 worked out quite nicely. I had to tweak it a bit in post, but overall I am quite happy with the dynamic range I was able to capture without doing any sort of HDR trickery.

This was another example of why you should always have your camera with you. It was about 8am and I had to take something across campus, and even though I did not have a free hand I figured I might as well take my D200 with me just in case. So I strapped it to my back, trekked across campus, dropped off the package, and turned to walk back when I spotted this flower-covered branch poking up from amidst a sea of white clouds. It almost appeared to have some sort of inner light, a glow if you will, since the sun was low on the horizon and had not reached its full intensity for the day. I tried a few different aperture values, and ended up with the ol’ trusty f/4. It has lately become my go-to aperture for most outdoor shooting, though having the option of blowing things wide open at f/1.8 sure is handy when you need it.

I have seen this statue of Saint Francis many times, since it’s right near my son’s daycare, but I never quite knew what to make of it from a photographic perspective (har!). The day I took this picture it finally hit me: lighting! (duh) It was cloudy and a bit rainy when I dropped my son off on this particular day, and because I had my camera with me I went over to the garden where this statue is placed and fired off a couple shots. I’m very happy with how it turned out, and I hope I can run out and take some more pics the next time it’s cloudy and overcast. We don’t get too many days like that in Oklahoma, so when they happen you gotta use ’em!

Side note: I apologize for the chime noise that pops up near the end of the audio commentary. That was my phone with a new text message, which I forgot to silence. Oops.

This photo is a classic example of the old adage the best camera is the one you have with you. And a good example of why it’s not a bad idea to take a nicer camera if you’ve got one. When my coworkers and I went across campus to run an errand, I left my D200 in my office because I figured it would be kind of a hassle to carry. And besides, what photo could I possibly take on a brief jaunt to the Student Union? But I went back and grabbed it before we left the building, and it’s a good thing too. I saw this dude outfitted with enough NERF weaponry to wreak havok on an office full of cubicles, but he was actually a participant in the annual campus-wide game called Humans vs. Zombies. Let’s just say if I were a zombie, I don’t think either my camera or I would have survived the encounter :)

Judging by the forecast when I left for work, I thought it would be a good day to bring the ol’ D200 with me and see if I could get a shot of something rainy. The weather sealing on this beast has long since bit the dust, so I had to be careful to not get it too wet, but I figured if I stood in a bus stop and watched for passers-by, I might end up with a photo-op. My goal was to catch someone who was unprepared for the rain, and while I can’t say for sure if this lady intended to be out biking in weather like this, I do know I would have wished for a warmer overcoat if I were her.

As I was shooting this photo in particular, I was a bit frustrated that a car decided to come between me and the subject (how rude of them! Didn’t they know I was trying to get a picture for my weekly photo blog?) but as I was looking through my shots I decided I rather liked the foreground element the vehicle added. It lends a sense of depth and motion to the picture, and even though I would not have planned it like this I am quite pleased with how it turned out.