The Band

Here is a group portrait we took a while back.  This is a young group of talented Christian musicians.

Once a month they put together a very cool event they call "Wildfire." The event is held in Corona at CCFC (Cornerstone Christian Fellowship of Corona).  The next event is tomorrow, that's Saturday at six PM.  If you are anywhere near the area and want to be a part of this awesome Christian event stop by!  Address is 611 West 6th Street Corona Ca, 92882.

New Mommie. Again!

Here is a picture of my Chihuahua Hidee taking her first look at her new baby sister.  The puppies are only four day old.  

This picture shows all three healthy puppies, two girls and one boy. The boy is the black and "wide" on the right.  He is by far the largest of the three.  He keeps stealing milk form the smaller girls.  Bad boy! This is mom Darla's fourth litter!

Nikon 85mm f/1.4 D AF

We spent some time in our local mountains, Big Bear & Lake Arrowhead, so I decided to put my 85 1.4 on my camera since I have not used it in a few weeks.  The first image is a picture of my beautiful wife.  I shot this with the aperture set to f/9.  You can see that the hotel in the background is distracting.

The second image was shot from the exact same spot only the aperture changed from f/9 to f/1.4.  

      
                                                  

I love the Bokeh (out of focus background) that this 85 1.4 produces. Even the tree branches that are only about two feet behind her are totally out of focus and no longer a distraction.  I have used this lens with great success for all types of portraits, from senior portraits to fancy wedding shots.  It always delivers with that special "Bokeh" quality!  Both images were taken with the 85 1.4 on my full frame Nikon D3.  This lens also works great on DX format cameras like the D300 my wife is holding in the picture.   The DX crop factor of 1.5 changes the 85mm to a 128mm 1.4 lens.  Perfect for head shots!

Going Wide, Real Wide!

Here are two photos taken on Sunday with the Nikon 16-35mm.  Both of these pictures were shot with the lens set at 16mm.  I like the top picture better.  This picture is a good example of getting an almost 3D affect.  You just can't do that a regular lens.

Both of these pictures appear as taken.  No lens distortion correction has been applied!  This lens, as almost all ultra ultra wide lenses, does have visible distortion at the far corners at its widest setting.  As long as you keep the important stuff from getting too close to the ends of the frame you'll be OK.  But in the end it's the subject matter of your photo that counts.  If you like volley ball or pretty girls, you'll most likely find the photo at the top more interesting.  Right?!

New Lens in the Bag...The Nikon 16-35 mm

Here is a picture of the new lens on my Nikon D3.  This new ultra-ultra wide angle lens is designed for full frame cameras (Nikon D3 series & D700).  This lens would be the equivalent of a 24-52mm lens on a DX sensor due to the 1.5 crop factor of the smaller sensor.  For DX Nikons, stick with the wide angle lenses designed specifically for DX sensors especially since this 16-35mm costs $1250.  This is the very first 16-35mm lens, from any manufacturer,  that has VR (image stabilization) built in!  Very Kuhl!  I never considered handholding a lens at 1 plus seconds and getting a clean shot.  Now possible with this lens!  I'll post some pictures after I play with this bad boy for a while.

Big Dog!

My brother in-law happens to be one of the top Pit Bull breeders in California!  This is his son wearing on of their new logo shirts.  Nice!
I'll be posting some shots of the Pits in the near future.

Life ON & OFF the Beach

Spent the day at the beach and couldn't help but notice the extreme contrast to "perceived" wealth and happiness.
The homeless guy was under the pier when I took this picture of his opened orange sleeping bag.  Talking with him I realized that he appears to be at peace with his present situation, happy even!

I wondered about the guy on that sail boat.  Was he also happy?  Or was he thinking more about getting back to work and paying for that boat?  I'm not sure but it sure makes me think!  How about you?
I do know that I would much rather be on the boat than under the pier as long as I had no worries!