Normal vs. Extra Vivid

I like this saturated look for nature and man-made items found on my walks and bike rides, but even I agree it's too saturated for people pics. Skin tones come out way too red. So, I saved these settings in one of the custom menus and then set up another, less saturated one, for people pics, and saved that one, too. Now I can change back from one to the other as needed. It might be even quicker to do if I can program the Fn button, but I know there are predetermined limits, so I'm not holding my breath.

Here's a comparison of the two settings, "Standard" (for people pics) and "Vivid +" (for most saturated colours). Jule may not be happy to see these experimental shots of her here, but I'm sure she's willing to sacrifice some dignity in the name of science! Right honey? :)

 
 

Funny thing is, I printed 4x6" prints of these two shots and the more I looked at them, the less I notice the red cast ... I wonder if it's like those old ladies who douse themselves with perfume each morning because they've lost their sense of smell after using it all those years and don't realize how it can make the eyes water in a confined space

New Lens - First tryout

These two pics were taken 6 seconds apart with my Nikkor 18-200mm VR lens. They were taken hand-held, with the VR turned on. The first is at the widest angle, the second zoomed in to the maximum. This lens makes using a tripod nearly obsolete!

 
Nikon D40, 1/500s @f11, lens @ 18mm (equals 27mm on 35mm camera)

 
Nikon D40, 1/1250s @ f5.6, lens @ 200mm (equals 300mm on 35mm camera).

Picturesque Hog's Back Falls has been turned into a rapid by the volume of water from the spring run off. There's flooding up river.

Out and about

 
 
 
 

Spring has sprung. Quickly.

 
 
 
 

Bus ride

 
 
 

Local Colour

 
 
 
 

Around the Market

 
 
 
 

Out on Sunday

 
 
 
 

Tempting fate

When we want to do something and there's a "snag" which makes it difficult to continue, Jule says, "Well, that's just fate - it wasn't meant to be ...", or words to that effect.

Well, that's what happened to me last night when I tried to order a Nikon D300 from Black's.

I can't tell you how much this has been eating away at me the past two weeks. A dozen times I've told myself I will trade the D40 in for the D300, and then, no, I'll keep the 40 and just get the longer lens, and then, no, I'll keep the 40, anyway, 'cause it's so light, but get the 300 because it's the one that fits what I want to do and besides, it will be the last camera I'll ever buy (although with consumer electronics life expectancy these days, I wouldn't want to bet on that).

What happened with the camera purchase is that I misread the security code on the VISA card. I mistook a "0" for an "8" as the card had been swiped numerous times and there was a streak across the numbers. It didn't work when I put it through, offering me instead a "Declined" message. I got out a loupe and saw my error, magnified 30x, and redid it - another four times, but each to no avail. It wasn't going through. Then I had a slew of emails from the payment service telling me I was declined and a duplicate set from Black's saying I'd better call customer service to make sure no payment went through. Good grief! Was this fate saying, STEP AWAY FROM THE CREDIT CARD? Don't buy the D300?

So this morning I called Black's customer service and was informed it was too early - call back later. Figures.

Then the phone rang. It was a 514 area code and I hesitated in answering since it's usually someone wanting me to try the National Post on a trial basis. Turned out it was VISA informing me there was some strange activity on my credit card last night. I was thrilled to hear this, as I was not using my "internet VISA" (the one I got with a purposely low limit just for internet purchases) since the cost of the D300 was over its limit. He told me the first transaction had an error in the security code. The next four were done properly, but since the flag had been dropped on the first one, no others were allowed and it was too late to call and tell me about it last night. Excellent! And he hoped there was no inconvenience to me. Are you kidding? I'm totally impressed with this level of security. Keep up the good work, I said.

So, he wanted to know if the transaction was going to go through now that he had reset everything for me. They'd be expecting it. I hesitated. Ye-e-s-s-s-s, maybe, I said. I may do it from my home computer tonight. I hate to challenge fate, though, you know. Now I have the rest of the day to think about it. Again.

As seen on a walk in the 'hood

 
 
 
 

Found and Lost

 
 
 
 

Noticing