Raptor

So after a little research I have identified the bird to be an Osprey (Pandion haliaetus) also commonly called a Sea Hawk.

Sunset over work

It's the 5 o'clock walk.

Laying in the wire

A weeks worth of storms

more rain

Rain Out Monday

It's the first real day of the first storm of 2010, looks to be a pretty good storm.

13 cans of glass and counting

Lenses I have used and my thoughts on them.

1. 35-70 f2.8  AF Nikkor (Great fast f2.8 constant push pull lens)
   
2. 50mm f1.8 AF-D Nikkor
3. 105mm f2.5 AI Nikkor (Tricky lens, good results, artistic)
   
4. 24-70 f3.5-5.6 AF-D Nikkor (AKA the Streetsweeper)
   
5. 300mm f4.5 ED AIS Nikkor (Nice tripod baby, great picture quality)
   
6. 18-200 f3.5-5.6 G ED AFS Nikkor (Great walk around lens)
   
7. 18-70 f3.5-4.5 G ED AF-S Nikkor
8. 18-270 f3.5-6.3 Di II Tamaron (15 x zoom is nice but the speed differential isn't)
   
9. 75-300 f4.5-5.6 AF Nikkor (Decent lens)
   
10. 17-35 f2.8 D EX Sigma (Wide, fast, fun)
    
11. 28-70 f2.6-2.8 AT-X Pro Tokina (Great quality pictures and built like a tank, almost 2 pounds of glass.)
    
12. 180mm f2.8 ED AIS Nikkor (Killer bokeh, great out door lens due to the distance needed)
    
13. 55-200 f4-5.6 G ED Nikkor
14. 28-85 f3.5-4.5 AF Nikkor (Dead so it don't count)
15. 18-55 f3.5-5.6 AFS Nikkor (Dead so it don't count)
16. 20mm f4 AIS Nikkor (Dead so it don't count)
    

Candid street photography

No model release needed for this one, not recognizable or identifiable as a specific individual.

Sunset

180mm shooting through the trees at the setting sun.

The coming storm

This and the next three pictures in this series was taken with my beat up 28 year old Nikkor 180mm F2.8 AIS lens with ranges no closer than about six feet at my local park. If you don't have your camera, you can't take the shot.

This shot was inspired by an album cover for a German Happy Hardcore band that I am probably the only fan of in California, Scooter. But on there album cover the pole has megaphone horns leaking tar on it. (This is  the album cover below and below that a mix from there latest album. Sorry.)

Chain growing out of a tree

A iron chain growing out of a tree.

Lost kite

I saw this Ironman Kite stuck up in the tree and was totally captivated by it. I shot it a lot and this is the picture that I seteled on as being good to post.

Blow blow

I have a friend who took a really nice picture of a dandelion with a pocket camera that just came out super cool, so I decided to do a similar shot with the 180mm from about six feet away, which gave me such a creamy bokeh in this shot.

Lockd out of the green gate.

I loved the texture and colors I found in this chained up gate at my local municipal swimming pool.

Connectors

Sunday walk about.

Guess what movie I need to go see

My small collection, partly made possible by one of the greatest gifts I have gotten in a long time. You know who you are, and once again thank you.

Nikkor 180mm F2.8 AIS

This lens is beat up and the glass does not look to healthy but the pictures sure do look nice with a great depth of focus and beautiful bokeh. Makes me think what a pristine specimen of this lens can do. It was made around 1982 and is one of 74,048 of this lens made, I find that many lenses that I have that perform really well often are old, although this one being over 25 years old is a little long in the tooth.( Still not longer than my 105mm AI lens).

If you want to read a little review on this lens check this out.
Or for a more balanced story check out Nikon's  own "Tale 10: AI Nikkor 180 mm f2.8 ED"

One last little thought, thanks to the crop factor afforded by the APS-C sensor in my camera this lens has an effective focal length of 270mm which with this optical performance and speed is phenomenal.

Stairway

Crane and moon

Honda concept

Nissan concept car

Lesson

So this is my first time shooting in a museum and I think that I have learned some good lessons from the experience.

1. Don't be afraid to shoot at a higher ISO, I kept my ISO low as I normally do and should have ventured up to the 1600 to 2500 range for some of my shots.
2. The picture of the hood ornament/thermometer was suffering from not enough light so I broke out my key chain LED light and had Super Dan light it for me as I shot it.

An Ugly portrait

Ugly and Super

All the lights

Jag XKS

The Vagabond

The moon at 900mm