New bag, New pictures

I got my new Kata bag yesterday and I have to say it is great, fits all my gear and is comfortable ta boot. I also went out in the 20 degree weather today and took some pics with the D80, I almost lost a finger to frost bite but it was worth it, just to go out and shoot. Above is one of the little woodland creatures I found, I took about 125 pictures and kept about 10, I guess that's about average. I also tried out my 50mm f1.4 lens and while it is a great lens, it is fully manual making it a huge challenge to get it right, I am thrust back into the 70's as soon as I put it on, but it is crisp. Everyone should have a fully manual lens in their bag, just for the experience. I am coming along with Aperture 2 as well, I am able to do some seriously cool editing I never could of done a few days ago, totally worth the investment.

New Camera Bags

I am awaiting the arrival of my new camera bag, I ordered a Kata dr-465 rucksack last week and I can't wait. I have been lugging around this shoulder bag for the last few years and while it wasn't a big deal when I first started and only had one lens and a holster, but as my lens collection has grown to 5 lenses, tripod, monopod, filters and so on that shoulder bag has gotten heavy and has no room left in it so a new bag was needed. Here is the link to the bag:

http://www.kata-bags.com/product.asp?p_Id=400&Version=Photo

This is a backpack, finally shift the weight off the hips and to the back, not to mention this has room for 2 body's 3-4 lenses, flash and everything else I seem to need. It should be here today, can't wait.

Aperture 2

If there is any question as to what the best photo software out there is it's aperture 2. I have been doing a lot of work and studying up with this program and it is awesome. Download the free demo at www.apple.com and give it a try, you won't regret it.

Mobile test

This is a test of my new iphone app allowing me to blog in the go or just add a thought as it comes to me. This is only a test.

First Macro attempt

Here is my first attempt at macro photography. I am not in any way experienced with this kind of photography. I just got a sigma 105mm 2.8F lens and I have to say I like it. I need to work on the depth of field to take the blur off the edges but I am going to need a tripod make that happen and one is in route but has not yet arrived. But all in all not a bad first attempt if I may say so myself.

Here are some sample of my work thus far as an amateur that I would like to share. Notice the fun copyright mark I made, that means no stealing. This one is called German Sunrise and yes I know there is severe lens flare but that is intentional. This was taken the the Bavarian alps, right on the border to Austria, it was such a beautiful site, I couldn't resist.

What Kind of Photographer

I have been thinking about this a lot in the last few weeks. What kind of photographer am I? I enjoy so many different areas of it I find it hard to pick just one. I like nature, landscape, portrait, its kind of scattered all over the place. Where do I want to focus my art?

New Slide Show

I have added a new slide show of my flickr photostream to the blog here so everyone can get to see a little bit of my work, I will be posting more High Resolution shots in the coming days and talking alot more about the mechanics and theory of photography and discussing the the highs and lows of trying to get that perfect shot.

My first post

Welcome to my photography blog. I am an ameture photographer who will hopefully one day be able to supplement my income with my pictures. I will be posting my favorites from the last few years and my new stuff as I continue to improve, first the good stuff, my gear:

Nikon D80
MB-D80 battery pack
Nikon 18-55mm
Nikon 55-200mm
Nikon 75-300mm
Nikon 50mm f1.4(old version)
Sigma 105mm f2.8 Macro

I might be jumping up to the D90 in the near future but for now the 80 is great.

Bloggers love blogs so here is one of my favorites, its at http://www.twipphoto.com/ , they are a great set of pro photographers who just love their jobs. Check out their podcast on Itunes.

That's it for now, check back soon for some real content.