Doggie Day!

Today I attended a dog agility competition in Freehold, NJ to practice my 'stop action' shots. I tried some settings that I tested with my dog in the backyard and the same settings worked really well for this event.

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I'm very impressed with the results I achieved using the 18-200VR lens. It gave me the zoom and flexibility I needed for this fast moving event.

To view my entire "Dog Agility Competition" gallery click HERE.

Portrait Day

I took my mom's portraits today at the local park. We had a great time but the sun was very harsh so a lot of the shots looked good on the LCD until I got home and they had a lot of blown highlights and washed out areas.

I'm going to try to work with them and correct them where I can. The positive about the situation is that my mom had a good time with the shoot so I'm sure she would be up for a re-do anytime.

This is one of my favorites from the day (no editing was done to it at this time):



And this one is edited and I love how it came out...very "mysterious mom." I did some similar to this of my self-portraits down below:



When I got home from taking her portraits I decided to take some self portraits in my backyard.

The sun was SO bright (even at 5pm) that it washed out a lot of my face in the shots.

So I tried to salvage them. I converted a lot of the colored ones to B&W and then I was playing with the levels and decided to go really dark on some of them and ended up with this effect which I like a lot





To view the rest of my self-portraits click HERE.

Couldn't help taking a portrait of *Lucas* :)



More of my "people & portrait" photography can be seen HERE.

Near Death Experience

At the end of the work day I left the office (I drove my husband's car to work today...) and I traveled one minute down the highway that my office is on. I entered the on-ramp for Route 287 (the major highway I travel on only for only two exits...less than 2 minutes worth).

The on-ramp has 2 lanes that enter onto the highway and I was in the right lane. I barely got onto the highway and I noticed the car in the left lane swerving into my lane....I laid on the horn and I swerved to the right to avoid them hitting me. As I did my car started swerving left and then right and spinning out of control as I tried to steady the car. Somehow I avoided spinning into the 3 lanes of traffic traveling at 65-70 miles per hour on this highway. Somehow I stayed on the portion of the road that leads off the on-ramp.

I ended up in a 180 degree circle facing the cement barrier to my right that is on the shoulder and keeps you from falling off this elevated part of the highway. I was safe but in shock for one second until I looked out my passenger-side window and saw a little red car and a BMW coming onto the highway from the on-ramp coming straight towards my passenger-side door.

By the grace of God and some kind of 'pure luck' the cars coming towards me were able to stop without hitting me. I was able to reverse quickly without going into oncoming traffic and get my car facing the right way.

I was shaking and could hardly breathe (all-out hyperventilating) and as soon as I was facing the right way I pulled over on the shoulder of the highway. Would you believe that the person who swerved into my lane and the people behind me never stopped to see if I was okay? As a matter of fact the people who were behind me drove past me and gave me dirty looks!! And none of this was my fault!

I got off the highway and drove down the road but I was crying and shaking so badly I had to sit on the side of the road for at least 20-25 minutes until I calmed down a bit.

After I felt better I looked out the passenger window to see the most heavenly sky....So what did I do? I got myself together and I picked my camera bag up off the floor where it went flying (ouch! don't worry it was unharmed) and I took a ton of shots of this heavenly sky before me.

I'm still not over what happened to me...I had time to see my life pass before my eyes and I can still remember every moment of what happened to me and I still can feel what it felt like. I think it will take a while to get over this but I have to travel these roads 5 days a week so I will HAVE TO get over this quickly.

Here is my heavenly sky after my 'near death experience' today:

Great Cloud Day...and no camera

The past few days have been terrible hazy sky days...so I finally decided not to carry the Nikon to work with me...the morning looked really dreary...

But of couse when I left work the sky looked a beautiful blue with some great looking clouds. Would have been a great day to stop at the park for some photos...

Oh well...there's always tomorrow... :)

A Few Special Ones From Today

I stopped by the park after work. With fall here it's getting too dark too soon for me! Had some trouble with the light...but still caught a few nice shots.

A couple favorites were these 2 fishermen at opposite ends of the lake. They just looked like they really enjoyed this time time alone...



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I was able to see a beautiful sunset. It was hard to catch it how I would have liked with the trees being where they were but I still like the results:

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I tried something different with this one through the weeping willow branches:



I chased the sunset all the way home trying to see if I could find a large clearing where the sunset was viewable but had no luck.

There's always another day and another sunset though!

Can't Wait for Fall

Getting excited for fall...When I edited this shot it made me very excited to capture fall in it's full glory!

Today's Subject: Neshanic Station, New Jersey

Visited Neshanic Station, NJ today with my sister. It's a beautiful area not too far from where I live. Lots of barns, silos, farms, bridges...everything I love to photograph.

Some favs from today...

This is a lenticular truss bridge in Neshanic Station. It was built in 1896 by the Berlin Iron Bridge Company that was located in East Berlin, Connecticut. This bridge is still in use for vehicular traffic. It was recently renovated and is a beautiful sight to see.

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Found a random soy bean field tucked away...love this wide angle shot complete with a lovely barn & silo:

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Also decided to get really low for some shots today:

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To view my landscapes gallery click here.

To view my bridge gallery click here.

Been busy busy....

It's been a very busy week...haven't been able to post much.

Had a charity golf outing Tuesday through work...what a beautiful day we had for the event. Got some great photos of the event and all of the participants and this beautiful landscape:



Last night I finally finished editing the photoshoot I did of my friends 2 children. They were so great to work with:



Met a cute lil four-legged friend today "Gracie." Of course I had to get some photos since I had my camera with me:

Worked on Restoring Old Family Photos Yesterday & Today

I spent countless hours this weekend restoring old family photos. I scanned each one and on them all in Photoshop. Photoshop is a godsend for this type of project!

They photos were in great condition so they weren't too bad to work with. I was impressed with home well they were preserved - with some being close to 100 years old!

I'm happy to have done this work for my family and I know they will treasure them.

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Sometimes a Photo Just Can't Convey What My Eyes Really Saw

I took these on the way to work today...even though it was a dreary grayish morning the sky still looked amazing to me...layers and layers of smooth clouds with dark blues running through them.

I stopped the car and took these out the window with my Canon Powershot because I hoped the photos would convey what my eyes really witnessed.

The look really neat but the photos just don't do them as much justice as I would have liked. I still like them but I always wish the camera could capture exactly what my eyes saw...

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To view my skyscape gallery click HERE.

The 9/11 sky....

Today it rained terribly all day but when I left work it wasn't raining and the sun was actually trying to break through the clouds to shine some sun on this sad day.

I thought it looked beautiful over the farms I pass on my way home so I stopped my car and got out to capture it on my point & shoot Canon.

Not Much Going On....

Not too much going on in my photographic journey today...had a terrible headache the entire day...

All I've been working on is editing the photo shoot of my friend's children that I mentioned in my post below.

I separated the photos into 2 folders...usable and not-usable...much less confusing this way. Then I stared editing one at a time. Got a decent amount done but I still have a little ways to go until I finish (but I enjoy the process).

I'm so happy with the shoot that I can't complain at all about the editing. I can't wait to finish and send the gallery to my friend to see the finished results of her 2 great kids.

We've discussed doing a fall shoot at a pumpkin patch or an apple orchard and even one of the family. So, we're both looking forward to that coming soon!

Photo Shoot With Two Little Friends

Today I did a photoshoot of my friend Mary's 2 children. I've known Mary since grammar school and I asked her to let me know when she had some free time to do a photoshoot of her 2 children Bobby & Kaylee.

We started at the lake and then it took them a little time to warm up to posing, etc. but once we switched to a different location at the park things took a turn for the best. I took a few hundred photos and when I looked at home there were a little over 100 quality shots. Since many look very similar I'll go through them and pick the best of each.

The best part of the day was when a rainbow appeared as the sun was setting. Bobby noticed it and I quickly laid in the grass and told them to look up at the rainbow holding hands. It was a great way to end the photoshoot.

Because the sun was setting behind the trees the photo came out really dark but I liked it that way. I lightened my favorite of the rainbow shots a bit and I like that it is a little shadowey in the shot.

I'll be working on the series for a while since there are so many quality shots but I'll share the rainbow shot I edited below.

Too Hot!

No photos today...too hot out. :(


Guess I'll just stay home and catch up on editing in the air conditioning...


UPDATE:

Just created this....I called it "Fear of the Unknown"


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Got to Test the New Lens for a Few Minutes Today...

Saw a field of these yellow wildflowers on the side of the road and felt compelled to pull over and capture them.

The sky was terrible today so this was my chance for some photos with the new lens.

A close up...I love how the Depth of field came out on this one:



Zoomed all the way out to highlight a wide view of the field:

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I also captured a butterfly on the side of the road:



To view my flower photography gallery click HERE.

To view my Butterflies & Bugs gallery click HERE.

After Waiting 4 Months...I Finally Got It! The New Lens Has Arrived! 18-200VR - Yee Hah!

The lens I wanted (AF Zoom Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6G ED-IF AF-S DX VRII) has been out of stock at B&H Photo since I got my Nikon D80 DSLR back in May. After a tip I received I ordered it this past Saturday at Best Buy with a price match (of all places!). If I had known about the price match I would have gone there and ordered it back in May!

I refused to buy it anywhere but B&H Photo because everyone else was charging way more. I had an 18-135 which worked well so I figured I would be patient and get the price I really wanted at B&H Photo.

I never even thought of Best Buy's price match policy! Not only did they match the price but they taken an addition % off to BEAT the competitor's price. The ordered it for me and shipped it free to my home! Got it within a few days.

Anyway, here's what she looks like (what a beauty!):



Check out Ken Rockwells review of this lens HERE.

Ken Rockwell also talks about how to get one HERE. I guess I'm not the only one having a hard time getting one....makes me think twice about not ordering all 5 that Best Buy had in stock and selling them for a profit on ebay! :(

You can also check out DP Review's forums to read more about how other's felt about the lens.

First shot with the new lens was my best friend, Lucas:



Then I went outside and did some test shots to see the lens zoomed out at 18mm and zommed in at 200mm with my best model, Lucas (of course).

At 18mm:



At 200mm:



At 18mm:



At 200mm:



I can't wait for work to end tomorrow so I can go out after work and get some shots with the new lens!

"Watch this space" as they say!

Spotted a Great Blue Heron & Double-crested Cormorant Today!

I found a new part of the D&R Canal (Millstone Aqueduct section) last night and I decided I would go and visit the area today on my last day off from work.

I got some nice shots of the canal, the bridge that runs over the canal, some nature shots, etc.

While I was there spotted something I never thought I'd see --- a Great Blue Heron very in New Jersey!! I've seen photos of them but I was told they were rare to the area and were brought in by some storms we had a while back.

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I also spotted a Double-crested Cormorant which I've never seen before. I was very happy to see such unique birds and I was lucky that I brought the 70-300mm lens with me!



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To view more shots of these birds and some other birds click HERE.

Last 2 favorites of the day. I couldn't pass up the bridge and the reflection:

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I loved the colors of this composition:

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To view more of my butterflies & bugs gallery click HERE.

Gosh, so much going on lately...and I haven't posted a lot this week...I almost forgot. I took the moon last night and I think it came out with some great details:

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To view more of my Night Photography click HERE.

Practiced Panning & Stop Action Today

With the help of some friends I got an idea of settings I should be using to take stop action and panning shots of my dog Lucas today (September 4, 2007). I asked for help because the shots I took on Monday came out terrible.

The settings I was given really helped and I got some really good results compared to Monday. At the end of the session I had a lot of shots and a tired pup.



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To see more from this practice session today click here.

A favorite shot from Monday's panning & stop action practice:

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