Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado

Posted on August 1, 2013 by owencherry

During my visit to Colorado in June my aunt Glynis and I took a drive to Rocky Mountain National Park. It’s a magnificent park, spanning a huge mountainous area with very little roads or development. The road we did take (Trail Ridge Road) climbs to 12,000 ft and is the highest continuous paved road in the USA. While we only made it up to 11,000, the altitude was definitely noticeable. Standing up too fast after changing lenses took a few moments of recovery.

I saw my first wild elk and, at the very top, a yellow-bellied marmot. Another first was being truly IN a thunder-storm, with lightning striking the valley far below us. Needless to say, we high-tailed it off the mountain.

The shots here were taken with the D300s and Tokina 11-16/2.8, Sigma 35mm f/1.4 and Nikon AF-S 85mm f/1.8 G. Many are HDR.

Gateway to Estes Park.

View near the entrance to Rocky Mountain National Park.

A pair of elk.

Stanley Hotel in Estes Park (Shining, anyone?)

Even in June, the snowbanks are at least 10 ft. high.

View South towards Estes Park.

Tundra above the snowline.

Yello-bellied marmot.

Panorama of Long’s Peak.

A sudden and violent storm from high on Trail Ridge Road.

Nik and Erin’s Wedding at Honsberger Estate

Posted on July 25, 2013 by owencherry

Nik and Erin’s wedding last month was beautiful from start to finish. The setting was a winery in the heart of the Niagara wine country, which is already a great start, and their tasteful decorations complemented the natural beauty wonderfully. The good looks of the wedding party and guests helped too! Highlights of the day included the horse and carriage ride from the Inn to the Estate, outdoor games, and a few Estonian wedding traditions… not to mention that I was seated with a lot of good friends of mine.

Now, I can’t say that everything went smoothly. This was my first event with the new (to me) D700 and as much as I thought a week of constant shooting beforehand would bring any problems with the camera to light, I was sure wrong. Right in the middle of shooting every overlay feature in the viewfinder turned on and stayed on! This included all the AF points and the DX crop, blocking out most of my view. Nothing I did could make it go away, and I tried everything. Fortunately, being the overly prepared worrier that I am, I had brought both my D300s and D7000 along and I managed to switch pretty seamlessly to the DX kit for much of the rest of the day. I still used the D700 in non-critical situations. I’ll post soon about the ongoing saga of the broken D700 and its recent resolution.

Back to the shots. Mike Portt did a great job second shooting, giving some excellent candids and details. Overall, a fun day full of photos that I’m proud of. Thanks, Nik and Erin!

Lee Fields and the Expressions – Starlight, Wateroo – June 27, 2013

Posted on June 28, 2013 by owencherry

Quite the week for music at the Starlight in Waterloo. I was told that they had been trying to get Lee Fields to play the venue for two years and finally it worked out that he could come. A phenomenal singer with a phenomenal band.

D700 with Sigma 35mm f/1.4, Sigma 50mm f/1.4 and Nikon AF-S 85mm f/1.8. Mostly wide open at ISO 3200.

Danny Michel with the Garifuna Collective – Starlight, Waterloo – June 25, 2013

Posted on June 26, 2013 by owencherry

Last night I got to try out the D700 in a concert photo shoot at the Starlight in Waterloo. Danny Michel brought the Garifuna Collective up from Belize for a tour as his backing band. They were simply amazing and definitely a contender for Top 5 acts seen in my 14 years in Waterloo. Danny and band traded off between his songs and theirs every two numbers to keep the night flowing and dynamic. Coolest thing of the night was the turtle shell and donkey jaw percussion.

The D700 performed as I had hoped it would. Fast AF, low noise, great dynamic range at ISO 3200 and 4000. The photos below were taken with the Sigma 35mm f/1.4, Sigma 50mm f/1.4 and Nikon AF-S 85mm f/1.8.

Andrew and Erin’s Wedding – Waterloo Park Grist Mill and Victoria Park Pavillion

Posted on June 25, 2013 by owencherry

It’s hard not to gush about Andrew and Erin. Andrew and Erin are great people with great friends and great family. Andrew and Erin are two of the kindest and most considerate people I have ever met. Andrew and Erin threw a fantastic wedding last month and I (and Mike) had the privilege of being their photographer. Andrew and Erin pretty much ARE Waterloo and it will be sad to see them move on to other places after their extended honeymoon.

Here are a few highlights from the wedding, keeping in mind that they will be seeing these for the first time (internet access is spotty in the nooks and crannies that they’re visiting). So, enjoy! And Andrew and Erin, there will be plenty more to see when you get back 🙂

This Weekend I Bought a D700 Part 5 – Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 Pro DX

Posted on June 20, 2013 by owencherry

Yes, this is a DX lens and I shouldn’t expect its image circle to cover the D700 sensor… but let’s try anyway. Here are images of my ceiling at f/2.8 at 11mm through 16mm with no lens corrections applied:

11mm

12mm

14mm

16mm

If we add lens correction to the 16mm image, it doesn’t look that terrible!

16mm with lens correction

Here are a few examples at 16mm. They aren’t perfect but I would consider the lens useable in a pinch… at least until I figure out what to use for my wider-than-35mm lens.

The Weekend I Bought a D700 Part 4 – Nikon AF-S 60mm f/2.8 G Micro

Posted on June 20, 2013 by owencherry

My fourth FX lens to try on the D700 is the AF-S 60mm Micro. Another super sharp lens, it gave me some great images full of smoothness and contrast.

Crop of the above image

This Weekend I Bought a D700 Part 3- Nikon AF-S 85mm f/1.8 G

Posted on June 20, 2013 by owencherry

The 85mm G has a reputation of being one of the sharpest Nikon lenses out there and I see no reason to argue with that. For it’s price it really does a great job with bokeh, sharpness and colours. I’ll let the photos speak for themselves.

First, the comparison from f/1.8 to f/5.6:

f/1.8

f/2.8

f/4

f/5.6. Note the slightly hexagonal bokeh.

And a few more examples:

This Weekend I Bought a D700 Part 2 – Sigma 50mm f/1.4

Posted on June 20, 2013 by owencherry

In this post I’ll show some examples of the Sigma 50mm f/1.4 on my new (to me) D700. Like the Sigma 35 from the previous post, this lens is great on the D700. The bokeh is lovely and it’s nice and sharp. I’d say the only complaint is inconsistent exposure; it tends to over expose much of the time.

Here is a series of the bicycle subject at close distance from f/1.4 to f/5.6:

f/1.4

f/2

f/2.8

f/4

f/5.6

And some more examples:

This Weekend I Bought a D700 Part 1 – Sigma 35mm f/1.4 Art

Posted on June 20, 2013 by owencherry

That’s right, friends! I finally made the jump to full frame. I found a near mint D700 at Henrys with a grand total of 1100 actuations on it. I really had no choice, did I? To be honest it was a bit of a toss-up between the D700 and a new D600. Each have their advantages and disadvantages but in the end I went with the body with a more pro build, better AF system, reliable QC and an interface that I really like. In fact the interface is nearly identical to my D300s and after an hour setting the D700 up I can pick up either body and it will act identically. Plus the grip and batteries work on either.

Needless to say, all of my lenses have a new character to them. In the next few posts I’ll show some examples I took over the past 5 days with each of my FX lenses, plus some extras. Let’s start with the Sigma 35mm f/1.4 Art. This focal length combined on full is the main reason for making this whole decision… after getting a taste for a true 35mm on my N80 film body. The FOV is totally natural to me.

Here is a series of shots from f/1.4 to f/5.6 with a close subject. I challenge anybody to find a problem with the bokeh here. I find it glorious.