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01-Jun-2025
The two images below are a good comparison between standard exposure and long exposure. The images were taken just a few seconds apart, the image on the left was taken at 1/500th of a second and the image on the right was taken with a 2 second exposure. The longer exposure results in a calmer image by smoothing out the flowing water. These images also highlight the difference in aperture, the focal point is the same for both images (the large rock midway down the falls) but the image on the left was taken at f/2.8 so the depth of field is very shallow with just a bit of the image in focus. The right image was taken at f/22 and the majority of the image is in focus. Both images were taken by a D850 on a tripod using a Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8 and a circular polarizer.
AF-S Nikkor 500mm f/5.6 E PF ED VR
24-Mar-2025
It has been a long time coming. I have finally decided to get something longer than a 300mm. My first telephoto prime lens was an AF-S 300mm f/4 D lens that I picked up used, and I sure got a lot of use out of that. I later upgraded to the 300mm f/4 PF lens which I have been using for quite awhile now and it is a great lens especially when paired with the TC-14E III teleconverter.
I wanted something a bit longer, I have been torn between the 500mm pf and a 500mm or 600mm f/4 but the weight and cost of those setups persuaded me to go with the PF. It's a compact lens for a 500mm, it's slightly larger than a 70-200mm f/2.8, although it is bigger than the 300mm f/4 pf.
Pi-Day Blood Moon
24-Mar-2025
On March 13th 2025 I decided to stay up all night and photograph the Total Lunar Eclipse. It started at 23:57 with the penumbral eclipse, and the partial eclipse began at 01:09 on the 14th. Ms Willow stayed up all night with me, following me in and out. It was a cold night! Starting from the left and going clockwise, here are the times for each image:
23:58, 01:10, 01:44, 01:59, 02:29, 02:41, 02:58 (peak), 03:23, 03:30, 03:59, 04:18, 04:37
The partial eclipse ended at 04:47 and the penumbral eclipse ended at 06:00.
The Nikon "Holy Trinity"
This is the Nikon "Holy Trinity"
The most ideal set of 3 F-mount zoom lens from Nikkor. This set covers all focal lengths from 14mm all the way to 200mm with no gaps at a fixed maximum aperture of f/2.8.
The first lens is the super-wide 14-24mm f/2.8G ED,
the second is the standard zoom 24-70mm f/2.8E ED VR,
and lastly the telephoto zoom 70-200mm f/2.8E FL ED VR.
After purchasing the D850 I decided to slowly amass this trinity. I was able to pick up all 3 of these in excellent condition on the secondary market. With so many people going mirrorless, there has never been a better time to pickup premium F-mount glass.
Upgraded.
Upgraded.
On April 6th 2024 I purchased an upgrade to my beloved D7100. I decided that mirrorless is still not for me so I settled on the best DSLR ever made, the D850. This is a big change for me to go from a crop sensor D7100 to a full frame D850. I will continue to use my D7100 as a backup and when longer focal lengths are desired.
I purchased my D7100 on October 6th 2013 and it has been my main camera until now. It has never failed me, I have never lost an image and it has never let me down. My D7100 now has well over 82,000 shutter actuation's.