Out with the old, in with the new

Anybody remember this picture of Smooch? I posted it way back in early July 2008.

It has always held a special significance for me because it was the first picture I took with my Nikon D80. 

Now take a good look at this next picture so when I ask you
a couple of years from now if you remember it, you'll know why.

It is the first picture I took with my new camera 

(a Nikon D7000 for anyone who cares about such things). 

The D80 started getting cantankerous a few weeks ago. I think I might have worn it out. If cameras had odometers, this one may have rolled over to 200,000 miles. Anyway, rather than stop taking pictures breathing for a month while the camera went in for a major tune-up, I broke down and bought a new one. Once the old one is out of the shop, I'll have it as a back-up. I can even be one of those real camera geeks and wear both around my neck for important events like...like...donkey play dates and snake sightings, when rapid access to different lenses is critical.

It's going to take me awhile to figure out all the new controls and features.

Good thing Smooch doesn't charge me for modeling services.

Seeing spots

If you're a photography geek like me and have been reading the notes I put under my rollover photos, you've likely seen this phrase way too many times:
1. Removed sensor dust spots with patch tool.

Yesterday, Estorbo's mom asked, "Do you just live with your dust spots and Photoshop them out all the time? I have two that are driving me around. the. bend."

Time out. Have you all met Estorbo, the beeg, blag, Dominican cad (big, black, Dominican cat)? His blog is too stinkin' funny for words. He writes in his heavily accented native tongue (think Ricky Ricardo). Half the fun of reading about his life dayeen and dayoud is trying to figure out what he is saying. That he looks exactly like Deets and has just as much...ok more...attitude, makes it all the better.

Anyway, back to Estorbo's mom's question. Let's talk about sensor dust spots. If you use a point-and-shoot camera, you may want to just come back tomorrow as you shouldn't have this problem. But if you use a DSLR and change lenses, you can probably relate.

See all the black spots in the photo below? I wish I could tell you they were flies or tiny birds, but they are specks of dust on my camera sensor.


Very ugly. As careful as I am when I change lenses, dust invariably finds its way into the camera and attaches itself to the sensor. The spots are most obvious when using a very small lens opening. The picture above was taken with the aperture set at f/22.

The picture below was taken with a wider aperture – f/11. The spots are less noticeable, but they are still there.



The picture below was taken with the aperture set at f/3.5. Look! No spots!


Most of the time, I prefer photos with a blurry background so that the subject of the image pops out - in geek speak, this is known as a shallow depth of field. Blurry backgrounds are best achieved with the aperture open as far as it will go – f/1.8 or f/3.5 depending on the lens I'm using. This is commonly referred to as "shooting with the lens wide open." When I shoot with the lens wide open, I do not see spots.

But sometimes, like when I'm shooting a landscape with the boys in the foreground and the mountains in the background, I'll want everything to be in focus. In that case, I'll change the aperture to something smaller, like f/11 or f/16. And then the spots come out. And then I have to use Photoshop to get rid of them. And then I'm reminded of how dusty the inside of my camera must be. And then I start chastising myself for not taking care of my camera and the snowball starts rolling down the hill from there. I would need therapy if I always shot at f/11 and above.

My options for dealing with the dust spots are thus:
1. Avoidance: Shoot with the lens wide open at all times.
2. Denial: Shoot with the aperture wherever I damn well please and Photoshop the hell out of the spots.
3. Confrontation: Pack up my camera and ship it off to an authorized Nikon repair facility and let them clean the dust off the sensor. Rumor has it that this is a 3- to 6-week process. Let's see...3 to 6 weeks without a camera...3 to 6 weeks without a blog post. NOT AN OPTION.
4. DIY: My go-to guy for all things camera, Ken Rockwell, advises so strongly against this that I will not even consider trying to clean the sensor myself.
5. Extravagence: Buy a new camera body, then ship the D80 off to Nikon to be cleaned.

Logic says that since so much of my life revolves around photography, I should have a backup camera and I should bite the bullet and go for option 5, but practicality says stick with option 1 and when all else fails,
1. Remove sensor dust spots with patch tool.

FAQ Friday, episode 4

Welcome to the fourth episode of FAQ Friday, where I'll answer the questions you've posed this week and make a big announcement.

From The 7MSN Ranch:
Q. Why don't you do some cool giveaways?
A. Because I don't have any sponsors knocking on my door offering up cool prizes, and all my disposable income seems to go to my veterinarian's kids' college fund.

Wait...what's that knocking I hear? Why, it's a sponsor! And they've offered to give away a prize to one lucky reader. Come back next week for the actual contest, but here's what the prize will be: an $80 gift certificate at online retailer csn|stores. Now I'll be the first to admit I'd never heard of csn|stores until they contacted me, so I did a little due diligence before taking the bait. Come to find out, they're a pretty big deal in this here online universe, and they sell everything from sectional sofas to sauce pans to scratching posts. Though I haven't purchased anything from them yet, their motto is "shop easy." After window-shopping my way through their site, I can vouch that it is refreshingly easy to search through their millions of products. So stay tuned for the contest next week.

From Pat in East TN and Nancy in NC:
Q. Did you put Deets up on George or does he go there himself to check out the view?
A. I'm still cheating and putting Deets on George's back, usually when I'm desperate for something to blog about. I figure if I do it often enough, Deets will hop up on his own. Deets loves it up there, George ... not as much, but he knows it makes me happy so he plays along.

From JaneK:
Q. Is the sky ever ugly in New Mexico?
A. No. I love easy questions!

There were several photography questions this week...

From Morning Bray Farm:
Q. So, was the D80 hard to figure out?
A. Kinda sorta but not really. I found Ken Rockwell's site soon after I purchased the camera, and everything I needed to know about using it, I learned from him. He has written his own user's guides for many popular cameras, and they are so much easier to understand than the manufacturer's guides, say nothing of being in large-enough type that I can read them! Whenever anyone asks me for camera and lens recommendations, I point them to Ken's site. There is so much excellent – and free – information there, I get dizzy.

From Jen at Cabin Fever:
Q. ...that last photo literally almost made me dizzy! Goodness. Very cool photo, though. Care to explain how you took it or what your camera settings were?
A. I wasn't sure myself until your question prompted me to go figure it out. It appears I pressed the shutter while I was zooming out the lens and a slow shutter speed captured the motion of the zoom. In other words, D.A.L. (dumb-ass luck). Here are all the settings:
shutter speed - 1/60
aperture priority
f/5.6
iso 160
focal length 44 mm
lens 18.0 - 135. mm

From Pat in East TN:
Q. How on earth did you ever get Smooch to keep the glasses on and then give that look in the last one?
A. D.A.L.


Keep those questions coming. Your appreciation of my four-legged family and photographs is what inspires me and keeps this blog going. Thanks, friends!

Saturday encore ~ Good photography...it's not about the camera

We've been talking alot about photography this week, so it seemed like a good time to resurrect this post from June 2008.

Could you tell that I like to take pictures? I’m not sure why, but I always have. This little hobby started wayyyy back in the seventies, when my high school newspaper needed a photographer. “Pick me! Pick me!” They did. I even majored in photography in college. I bought my first real camera in 1972, the year I became a freshman at the Rochester Institute of Technology - this Nikon F2.



I love this camera, and I will keep it forever (watch for us on Antiques Roadshow in another couple of years). It has been in the shop exactly once, for a $75 tune-up in 2002, and has never failed to deliver the images I was picturing in my mind.

Dropping off film to be processed isn’t too practical when you live in the middle of nowhere, so just before I moved to the 7MSN, I abandoned my Amish ways and went digital. This Canon S60 point-and-shoot has helped me capture my adventures for the past three years and is responsible for all the pictures on this blog.



I’ve never loved my point-and-shoot the way I loved my Nikon SLR. I can’t see through the viewfinder, so I never really know what I’m taking pictures of, and the dust and wind out here wreak havoc on the moving parts. I’m always arguing with it and miss half the shots I want to take because the lens door thingamajig closes at the most inopportune moments. Still, I’ve taken some good pictures with it. Because good photographs are not about the camera.

So why did I just buy a new one?? Because I want to enjoy taking pictures again and I'm sick of arguing with that silly lens door. Yikes. I’m reeling from buyer’s remorse and it’s only been 10 minutes since I hit the “continue with purchase” button.





I’m not looking forward to figuring out how to use it. I yearn for simpler days when all you had to worry about was f:stops and shutter speeds. But I hope I will learn to love it just as much as old faithful up there.

What a great bunch of kids

They may not make me breakfast or bring me flowers on Mother's Day, but they're more than happy to pose while I try out the new lens I bought for myself.









I'm lovin' the new lens, though Smooch doesn't share my enthusiasm.

Up close and personal...mama's got a brand new lens

Getting close enough to my animals to take pictures has never been a problem. But I've got this plan stuck in my head to find the wild horses that roam south of here, and for that I will need a longer lens. So I bought one and have been messing with it.








Not all subjects lend themselves to the up-close-and-personal treatment that this lens offers, and I'm still trying to figure out where to draw the line. I think I may have crossed it on this last one.

I figured out how to turn it on...

...and all I can say is holy stinkin' crap. It's so much fun to have control over a camera again. But there's no way I'm taking it out in the rain, so I'll just stay here on the porch and see how many portraits Smooch will sit for until she gets bored and sticks her tongue out at me again.

Christmas in July

The UPS driver called at 4:30 this afternoon to tell me he was on his way with my camera – I should meet him out on the highway at Frank's place in a half an hour. And right on cue, the skies darkened and it started to drizzle.

Smooch and I jumped in the truck and hoped we could get across all the arroyos before they started running. The sky was looking mighty ominous in the direction we were heading.

We were halfway to the highway and so far so good. Hang on tight, Smooch. Only four more arroyos to go!

Whew. We made it. Do you see him coming, Smooch?

Nope.

It was raining pretty good at Frank's place, and now we had to worry about getting back home...because staying overnight here wasn't particularly appealing.

Don't worry, Smooch. If we get stuck, we can take pictures with our new camera!

Let's start now. Here...I'll pose.




There he is! There's Big Brown!

Big Brown handed over the precious parcel and off we went. We took the Brazil Canyon route home, hoping we'd have less chance of getting stuck in the mud. This is where the road starts, right there between piers 7 and 8 under the railroad tracks. Most people don't believe this is actually a road, which is a good thing - keeps the trespassers out.

There was only one minor water crossing to navigate.

As we got closer to home, the rain tapered off.

And as ominous as the sky looked, it never rained over the 7MSN. The story of my life...

I took my precious parcel onto the porch to open it.
And there it was...my new camera. Sigh. 

Nikon has a sneaky way of making you read through the whole instruction manual before you get to use the camera - they send it with a battery that needs to be charged first for 2.25 hours. Guess I'd better get this posted and go start reading.

Good photography...it's not about the camera

Could you tell that I like to take pictures? I’m not sure why, but I always have. This little hobby started wayyyy back in the seventies, when my high school newspaper needed a photographer. “Pick me! Pick me!” They did. I even majored in photography in college. I bought my first real camera in 1972, the year before my freshman year at the Rochester Institute of Technology - this Nikon F2.

I love this camera, and I will keep it forever (watch for us on Antiques Roadshow in another couple of years). It has been in the shop exactly once, for a $75 tune-up in 2002, and has never failed to deliver the images I was picturing in my mind.

Dropping off film to be processed isn’t too practical when you live in the middle of nowhere, so just before I moved to the 7MSN, I abandoned my Amish ways and went digital. This Canon S60 point-and-shoot has helped me capture my adventures for the past three years and is responsible for all the pictures on this blog.

I’ve never loved my point-and-shoot the way I loved my Nikon SLR. I can’t see through the viewfinder, so I never really know what I’m taking pictures of, and the dust and wind out here wreak havoc on the moving parts. I’m always arguing with it and miss half the shots I want to take because the lens door thingamajig closes at the most inopportune moments. Still, I’ve taken some good pictures with it. Because good photographs are not about the camera.

So why did I just buy a new one?? Because I want to enjoy taking pictures and I'm sick of arguing with that silly lens door. Yikes. I’m reeling from buyer’s remorse and it’s only been 10 minutes since I hit the “continue with purchase” button (I’m supposed to be reseating that leaky toilet today but noooo...I’ve been procrastinating and shopping instead.)

I’m not looking forward to figuring out how to use it. I yearn for simpler days when all you had to worry about was f:stops and shutter speeds. But I hope I will learn to love it just as much as old faithful up there.