Gear!

This is a great deal on that Nikon lens that will work on everybody's camera really well. Buy it now! This deal will not last long.

Gear deals!

These are some great deals on Nikon gear. Call me if you have any questions.
http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=218&ad=13185171&cat=&lpid=3&search=nikon

http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=218&ad=13194726&cat=&lpid=2&search=nikon I just sold mine for $200 more!

http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=218&ad=13208003&cat=&lpid=&search=nikon

Phenomenal deal

Here's a great deal on the new version of the Nikon 18-200mm VR lens. This is the all in one lens. At this price, if you hate it you can resell it for a couple of hundred dollars more!

This is the lens I recommend if you want a fast lens that autofocuses on your D5000, D3000, D60, D40...

Great Deal on Nikon Lens

http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=218&ad=11662643&cat=&lpid=&search=nikon

This is an awesome lens. It'll fit any Nikon Camera, but it is not an auto focus lens. It will make some pretty incredible pictures, and help you learn to focus well. Great for landscapes, macro, and portraiture. These things go quickly, so act swiftly!

Good Deal!

This is a great deal. I'd offer $600...these deals go quickly, so don't dally.

Great Deal on Canon Flash!

This is a really low price for a speelite.
http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=218&ad=11028108&cat=&lpid=1&search=canon

Flower Friday

Nikon D90, 55mm micro lens, f/16 (best recollection), 1/100s, ISO 200. 

Have I mentioned that this is an old lens? It's more than 30 years old. It doesn't auto focus (no matter the camera) and the light meter in my camera also won't work with it. That means that I have to make a guess when taking my first picture. After that first guess, I can then look at the picture on the back of my camera and refine the settings to make the correct exposure. However, the Sunny f/16 rule helps me get very close on my first shot.

Why would I do this, you ask? Why would I want a lens that doesn't even utilize all the fancy-pants capabilities of my expensive camera? Because it's a macro lens, I say. That means that I can get very close to something and still have it in focus. This particular lens happens to project an image into my camera that is the same size as the object being projected. That means that an M&M shot close up with this lens would be recorded at life size--which is great when I get it on the computer because now I can print it far larger than life size with perfect resolution. I could print this image as a 24"x36" poster and have it looking very good. With a non-macro lens, I would have to crop to bring my flowers up so close, and that means that I would lose resolution and enlargement size. 

I got this manual lens because it's a few hundred dollar less expensive than the alternatives. Plus, it's a great exercise in understanding what happens to make a good exposure...

Canon Deal!

Here's a great deal on a modern Canon 50mm 1.8 lens--only $65! If I had to choose one lens under $800, this would be the one I'd buy.

This price will go fast.

http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=218&ad=10261006&cat=&lpid=

On the Spot Portraits

Little E. gives his pops a hug when he gets home from work. It's cute, ya know? Plus, I'm still vetting one of my lenses, deciding whether I want to keep it. It's fast (f/1.8 maximum aperture), which makes for sharper images at wider apertures, but sometimes I feel like it's not as sharp as I'd like. I'm beginning to see, however, that it looks great for portraits, but perhaps not as good for landscape distances. This one was made at f/3.5, and E. has nice crisp eyes, but pops is out of focus. This brings the viewers' eye right to E.'s eyes and smile, right where the focus should be. This shallow depth of field sets this sort of snapshot appart from the kind that has everything in focus--this type feels more composed even though pops just walked in the house. But hey, with kids this cute you can't make a bad exposure.

The trick with kids is just being ready. I shoot in Aperture Priority modes ("A" on Nikons, "Av" on Canons). This mode allows me to control the depth of field and not worry about the other settings. This is optimal for me because nothing looks more professional than portraits with a controlled depth of field. 

Also, start coaching your spouse, kids, or whomever might be holding the little guys to turn toward the light automatically when you point the camera their way--that makes it much easier to get nice images. Remind your...mature mother-in-law that she is not the subject, and that she will look flatteringly out of focus; she'll begin to trust you, and she'll appear more relaxed and natural in pictures. Finally, show her the pictures on the computer or in print after you have finished them off with processing when she looks good--don't just show her raw on your tiny camera screen!

Nikon D90, 85mm lens, f/3.5, 1/160s, ISO 800, east facing window light in the afternoon (see the square catchlights in the eyes?).

Deal

Rats! I missed that 50mm f/1.4 lens I've been wanting. So, here's a link to the 35mm f/1.8 that is excellent for any nikon, including the D40, D5000, etc...
Buy this lens

50mm f/1.8 Great Deal!

Somebody please buy this.
http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=218&ad=9784818&cat=&lpid=

Great deal, I think, on the best lens out there.

Flashes

Whoa! After our class last night using flashes, there are suddenly four terrific flashes on KSL for around $60 each. This is a pretty good deal. The great thing is that each of these is able to function as an optical slave. go to KSL classifieds, enter Nikon in the search, and look for the SB-26, SB-28, SB-50, and also an F5 camera--the guy has an SB-28 for sale in there, too. Enjoy!

Always bring your camera

This image was shot last night in the parking lot of Borders. I saw the colors coming on and quickly unleashed my camera phone on the scene. I had my camera in the car, but by the time I got to the car, the colors were already gone. Granted it's not the best picture ever, but I got some color from it. The best camera is the one you have with you...


My phone has both exposeure compensation/bias adjustment and white balance control. I set this one to the tungsten (lightbulb) setting to catch the cooler colors mixed with the reds, and turned the exposure compensation way down to -2.0 to saturate the colors more.

Gear Alert!

I'm constantly checking KSL.com for Nikon deals, and there are two pretty good ones. There's a Sigma brand 18-200mm lens with stabilization that is a good lens. I don't know if it's a great price, but be sure to negotiate.

Here's the great deal: SB-600 flash for $150--this is the flash i use all the time with my Nikon camera. I paid $230 for both of mine...