Why not a Blog 7

First, I keep adding material at the bottom, so, to read the most current entry, scroll down, blog 6 is now too long, so onto blog 7.

I got my pictures hung at a local shop for first 2 weeks of December. Good timing for the holidays. On a good year, maybe sell 300 dollars or so, not a lot, but any sell is a good sell.

I Matte/Frame each piece to hang, but encourage people to buy a matte copy and not the fully framed copy. The profit margin/effort is less if I sell the prints versus fully framed art.

I like to establish a base theme and during the period, switch out pieces so the event stays dynamic, and makes people keep on looking to see what changed.

I try to use 1 or 2 older works, and then the rest all new work. The older work is to trigger recognitation of the work, and then newer stuff to show that the work is always expanding and hopefully improving.

I encourgage any serious photographer to establish some channels to hang your work. First, it forces you print/frame and build an inventory. Start small, and eventually the inventory begins to build. Besides, you might be surprised how different pictures look printed and framed. Some pictures really pop.

Also, I prefer wherever possible to print 13x19. 11x14 is usually the smallest, and larger than 13x19 occassionally, but for me that requires outside printing, and once you frame, the piece is so large, that takes a large wall space, and less people have that ability to consume wall space.

The more I research, the smaller is becoming my future lens list. I have enough ok lens, and now, want to fill out the collection with ultra lens, which well, are expensive.

currently on my wish list:

14-24, but way large, and exposed curve lens, not sure how much I would use this lens

24-70 2.8 to replace my favorite 35-70, more range, slightly better optics (maybe, 35-70 is one of the sharpest zooms ever made), bulkier, and very expensive

45 mm tilt and shift,, just because its cool, but want to rent first to really decide.

some large zoom,,
hard to say, has to be 400, and be sharp, and fast focus, don't really have a strong candidate here.

85 mm 1.4 -> just because its a legend

so,, I am now leaning toward a 400 5.6 ED IF, super sharp, and perhaps a decent price,,

I see a lot of folks looking closely at the work on the showing,, hope a few might loosen their wallets too

Never know,

I just checked, and still an extensive full Manual lens from Nikkor still available at BH,, which I find so so cool, I almost bought a brand new 50mm 1.2, but ended up with a used copy.

I get a kick that the old 35-70 manual lens is still made for the FM10, how quant. I picture this old section of the Nikon factory making these old lens.

Anybody seriously considering buy Zeiss lens, would do well, just buying the Nikkor lens brand new!

they even still sell the Nikkor 55mm 2.8 micro! great lens.

I really believe that these will be gone in the near future, this type of quality is a dying item.

its a blah day,,, no snow, brown, not a lot of motivation for outside photography, might be a good day to work on previous shots.

thank goodness my D800 seems to be from a good batch. I still see so many complaints on quality which is distressing to the Brand.

Maybe these cameras are just getting so complicated, that Quality Control is becoming an issue.

nice fresh air today,, had my 60mm macro lens on.. with the small frozen leafs and such.

some folks really amaze me, I was speaking to a photographer, and like me he does not make a living, and takes a lot less pictures then me due to time (has a young family),

anyway, we were talking gear, and he went down just part of his current list, that included the d800, the modern trio of 14-24, 24-70, and 70-210 2.8s, and the latest primes including the 24 1.4,and I am like wow! talk about the setup. I figure he had 12K just in that lineup.

My trio is 2 generations back, and I am not rushing out to get the latest .

I would almost feel too much pressure for awesome shots with that line up of the absolute bests lens.

So,, what did I take out today for my shoot, let me see, the ancient 20mm 3.5, 60 mm 2.8 micro D (love this lens0, and an ancient 200 mm F4 52 mm small), three small primes that fit in my small side pockets of my pack.

speaking of awesome lens, thinking of getting a beat up 85 1.4,, and then have my local shop clean it up. Always hear what an amazing lens this is, be interesting to test it out.

I see minor variation on lens quality effects, I shoot from the 120 dollar special to the 2000 dollar lens, and well, each have their purpose. While they each do their assigned role for speed, and width, and aperature, I personally don't see that magical difference.

do, i have favorites, sure, and some lens disappoint,, for example

my 300 4.5,, just not that sharp,
20mm 2.8,,, to much vignetting
50 mm 1.2 ,, not sharp enough, but such a cool lens.


I still use all three, and get fine shots, well, except for the 300, I rather use my really sharp 28-200 2.8, or 200 F4. and crop a bit if I have to.

what are my favorites?

15mm 3.5 -> produces lovely images, and of lens, this one comes closes to giving a different feel to the photo
105 2.0 DC -> mostly because I am a sucker for quality, and this lens oozes quality, and super sharp. still playing with the DC

Thats it,, the rest I just use, as needed, no favorites. All equally good in their own niches.

Yea! won a 85 1.4 for 350 dollars, has some mold, so,, it will go to my pro shop for a cleaning, so, total investment will be around 450, which is still a great deal for a 85 1.4 legend lens.

Not a bad way,, to afford an exotic lens, if you are willing to put some repair into it.

Sometimes I do photo mine my portfolio, and was mining fom shots taken with a D700 and D7000, often the exact same spot/conditions.

The Clear winner -> The D700! sometimes shockingly so. Many of the D700 shots were simply amazing in the clarity, and details, and light control. Maybe, it is the FX sensor, but I am kinda surprised. I did get some strong images from the d7000, but folders that I am mining more are coming from is the D700.

I will be heading back out, and this time, am thinking of bringing the D700 and D800. I want to have prime speciality lens on D700 like dedicated macros, and DC lens. Plus play with a PC (perspective control lens), but will do more side by side comparisons between the D700 and D800.

It is my belief that my D800 is now winning against my D700 for photo quality output, but mmm maybe, that is just an unjustified bias. I'll have to see.

Today, my photos have reached the halfway point hanging in public. Generated some interest, but still no purchase. Darn.

I am thinking about attending one of those art shows,,, selling the photos with me being there. I think the human interaction would be more effective.

I am always negative for the year, when I factor in the equipment I buy. Never turn a profit

My hat off to the photographers that make a full time living..

well,, as I stated in a lens forum, I found a 80-400 nikkor lens, A lens with this type of reach has been missing from my lineup. I have a mirror 500, but those are not known for sharpness.

I am looking forward to some bird shots. This Spring, I am going to be in Jamica, might be the perfect lens to bring, with such a range. Carry that and say a 35-70, and throw in a 20, and you got the full range covered.

Hope it is a sharp as some of the reviews state.

One of the improvements now is tracking of packages, so,, watching my used 85 moldy 1.4 work its way to my home. Nice to know that a package is making its way.. maybe today, maybe tomorrow. but definitely by tomorrow.

Not even going to put this lens on my camera, until the local shop scrubs all that mold out, and cleans the lens. These lens, are metal/glass, so they clean up really really nice.

Years ago, I bought an really moldy 200-600, a monster, and it was so moldy and locked up, but after a cleaning it was clear, and ultra smooth.

So, I am more concerned when I buy a lens, with scratches on the glass, and dents.

Actually, sometimes you can still replace the outer glass even. I have had that done on two lens
also, (well because I dropped them,, I can be rough on gear when hiking and trying to take pictures on slippery ledges). or slippery ocean rocks.

No xmas presents for me! since I got more uses lens. Finnally upgraded filled in my long range lens. hopefully with some sharp stuff.

the long range lens are difficult to buy with investing serious money. As they say, wow, that is a serious glass.

overall, I did well, keeping the expense of the two lens, under a 1000 dollars with the 300 F4 ED and the 80-400 ED,

I am crossing my fingers I get good samples, since I am buying used. I'll never be able to afford a 400 2.8,, those are for the rich, or professional sports guys.

but,, with modern cameras, a F4 should be fine.

about 60 dollars to clean the 85 1.4,, not that bad, 10 days or so from now, will be able to test the 1.4 out with the 85 mm.

received the 80-400 ebay win along with the separate order for the KIRK tripod colar.

The lens is mint, almost looks brand new! and the Kirk went on very nicely, and is sturdy, perfect fit.

Did a quick test in fading house, and on the D800, the focus was very quick. This looks like a serious lens. I zoomed in the detail was sharp! nice. I think I am going to really like this lens.

Had another look at this lens in daylight, nice. This is a serious peice of equipment, and can appreciate why they cost serious dollars.

I have to find ther right belt bag for this lens, this is getting to me rethink my walk about shooting, I see myself carrying a 20 mm prime, the 35-70 prime and then this beast, and actually hand shoot the 80-400 lens. I am excited about the potential of being zoom be able to take a shot of the statue of liberty's crown, or boats out in the bay, where I just did not have the range before will be in reach.

I'll have to see how realistic it will be to hand shoot the lens, but on first pass, it is really not that heavy and seems to be possible as the hand carry which will be so cool.

amazing how fast time flies, Blog 7 is almost at the stage of moving to blog 8,

Football, the perfect time to move the photos over to the backup disks. Quickly, I fall behind, and it takes hours to back up the month's photos along with the edited versions. So, football games are the perfect time, to backup the folders.

Then, I can remove the folders from my computer, readying the space for next month shots. I have about a 6 - 8 week window that my computer can hold, before the space limit starts to come up, which is a good thing, makes you remember to back up the photos.

Problably better to set up some auto system, but, then you would have to have the cables plugged in all the tiime, which seems more of a pain.