Sunday, December 29, 2013

PLAYING WITH MY CHRISTMAS PRESENT

2nd Man surprised me for Christmas with a new camera.  It's a Nikon with interchangeable lenses and something like 28 megapixels.  So I spent part of the day at the farm yesterday, roaming around taking random pictures and experimenting with different effects and lenses.

Mistletoe in a tree
I found this mistletoe up high in a tree.
I was able to get some good details.

Red Fall leaves
These red Fall leaves were on a tree on the other side of the property, I just zoomed in on it.

Mesquite leaves closeup
I LOVE this photo of the Mesquite leaves.  This was probably 100 feet away.
It will be neat to focus on the subject and have the background in blur.

Blue the dog
As usual, 2nd Family's dog, "Blue" came to visit.  Of course, he killed a rat under this brush pile shortly after this photo was taken, but I'll spare you those pictures, all 'circle of life' and all.  I should add, as scary as he looks, he's a sweetheart and just wants to be loved and fetch sticks.

2nd Man said that he thought a good blogger needs a good camera, aww, he was very thoughtful.  My old camera was just that, old, so it was definitely time.  I feel like I'm a member of the paparazzi, only I guess my 'celebrities' will pretty much be the neighbor cows, ha.

Now mind you, I still have pictures of the farm that I've already taken that I'll use in upcoming posts.  They were taken by the old camera, so for the next few weeks, there will be a mixture of old and new, but it will be exciting to learn how to really use this new gizmo.

25 comments:

  1. How exciting! Enjoy your new present- I can't wait to see upcoming pics!

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    1. Thank you! We'll see how it goes. It's a learning curve for sure, ha.

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  2. the photos are fantastic. How thoughtful of 2nd Man to give you a gift that will open a whole new world of photography for you,I did not even know you could get a camera with 28 megapixels! I hope you have a lot of fun experimenting and learning how to use all the lenses. Now you can fill the farmhouse with lots of your own personalized artwork. Love how the leaves softly blur in the background of the mesquite leaves. I can't say I am fond of mesquite in real life. The one time I went to Texas, I ended up in the hospital the whole week when a severe allergy to mesquite led to pneumonia. The ER doctor said they see a lot of that cannot tvisitors from out of State that can't tolerate the dreaded mesquite. Lovely to look at in the photo though. Blue's portrait was so real that I felt I locked eyes with him. I think I felt like the rat did when he saw Blue. I would not want to tangle with Blue. He has a scary stare. There is such great detail & color on all the photos. Have fun with your new gadget and don't forget to apply for your paparazzi press pass. You never know, you might see Angelina Jolie strolling through the cow pastures some weekend.

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    1. That was an experiment (the mesquite leaves) and it came out better than I thought, ha. Yes they have cameras now up to way higher than that. Of course those are really expensive, ha. I didn't know mesquite could cause such allergies. Yeah the farm is covered in it, you wouldn't do well, ha.

      Blue is intimidating looking but he's a lovey dog. Of course I always say if he was running at someone on the property that wasn't supposed to be there, they would be very intimidated, ha.

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    2. Oh, and I had to crack up at the Angelina Jolie comment, if I saw her in the cow pasture, I would make a FORTUNE with THAT photo, LOL!!!!!!!!! :-)

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  3. isn't it fun to have a new camera? you are so lucky to have mistletoe!

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    1. It's the first new camera in years. I think my old one was like 5 megapixels. Heck, most cell phones have better cameras now, ha. No mistletoe up there? It's in a lot of trees on the property. Maybe next year I should bag it up, ha. Seda Bolsa Mistletoe! :-)

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  4. that new camera takes wonderful photos, you're having fun with a wonderful gift, our dog had a hatred for rats as well, killed every rat he could find, such a gentle dog he was too, Blue is a beauty!

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    1. It's just going to be a matter of learning how to use it, ha. 2nd Family said Blue is always killing rats (and sadly, the occasional bunny). He actually killed two in that brush.

      Blue is a very handsome dog for sure.

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  5. An awesome gift. Love Nikon cameras. Save the old camera though because when you have to have this camera refurbished you will want something to take photos with even though they won't be the caliber of this camera. But, it takes time to refurbish a camera. Can't wait to see more photos and all that you learn with this new exciting camera and the lenses.

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    1. Good point. In fact, I might just keep the old one at the farm so I know it's always there. Great suggestion, thanks. Thank you again!!! Oh, and this is my first Nikon. Fingers crossed!

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  6. Well, lucky old you!!
    Blue is the most handsome of dogs...do tell him...I wouldn't want to be in his bad books!!
    Jane x

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    1. Ha, I will let him know. He's definitely a good looking dog. I was actually kind of proud of that photo. I think the shutter clicking got his attention and he looked at me at the exact right moment. I've never seen him vicious or mean, he loves to fetch and play. But if I was a stranger at night and saw him coming, it would scare me, ha.

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  7. Replies
    1. DEFINITELY!!! Oh, and it does HD video so I might even have some future videos from the farm to share.

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  8. 1st Man,

    Well I do declare, 2nd Man deserves a big hug. He gave you a really nice camera.
    I love your first pictures with your new camera. Have you named your camera yet? I have a Blogger friend named Buttons who has named her camera "Leo".
    Look at Blue's expression, very intense..........wanting to know what you're doing.
    Enjoy this beautiful gift.

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    1. Thank you it was very thoughtful wasn't it? I never thought about naming my camera but if I name my Deere, makes sense to me. Hmmm....I'll have to give that some thought. Thank you!

      Yes Blue has a very intense gave huh? And he definitely heard the shutter clicks and looked up. :-)

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  9. Congrats on your great gift. The Mac has a wonderful editing programme but you might like to invest in the basic version of Photoshop (the full version is amazing but the basic offers you so much for so little dollars). Hours and hours of fun there. Good advice to hold onto your old camera, it's always good to have a spare. Happy shooting!

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    1. You know I've always used just the Mac stuff but photoshop has always intrigued me. I think they have a Mac app for that.. I'll check that out. And definitely keeping the old one, thank you!!!

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  10. Well, 2nd Man really knows how to treat you right doesn't he? What a great gift. I love the shot of the Mesquite leaves. And Blue is a magnificent looking dog!

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    1. Thank you much. I think those are my two favorite photos the mesquite leaves and Blue, ha. I thought about printing the photo of Blue on photo paper and giving it to 2nd Family. :-)

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  11. They're some good photos! Glad you guys had a good Christmas.

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    1. Why thank you much!! I hope you and your family had a great Christmas as well!!

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