Monday, February 28, 2011

More Triplets Around the House

I've been using the new camera a lot trying to get used to the functions and menus. Thankfully I have three pretty cute subjects that move around a lot and don't mind me taking their pictures... too much.

Here are a few of my favorites from last Friday.














Friday, February 25, 2011

Another Snowstorm

Yep, we got hit with another snowstorm last night. Seems like it's been one after another this year. These photos aren't nearly as cool as the ice photos, but they do show about how much snow we got in the last twelve hours.

Gretchen was nice enough to go out and clear the driveway on my birthday. Alright, who am I kidding, she clears the drive almost every time it snows.



The kids had a good time running from window to window watching mama clear the snow with the "lawn mower". It took me a good fifteen minutes and three thousand iterations of "snow blower, not lawn mower" before they realized that it wasn't the lawn mower. I think they've got it now.

Nikon D700 High ISO Tests

I apologize to those of you who read this blog for stories and pictures of the triplets. This is going to be a fairly technical post about my new camera. There are pictures of the kids, so if you don't want to read all of the technical camera stuff, feel free to skip to the pictures.

In case you missed it, I got a new toy earlier this week, a Nikon D700. One of the main reasons I switched from Canon to Nikon was the superior high ISO performance of Nikon cameras. I decided to do a couple of tests today. I waited until the room was sufficiently dark, cranked the ISO on the camera, and shot away.

On my Canon cameras, I would rarely shoot with my ISO above 800. Occasionally I would go up to 1600 in really low light conditions, but the noise, or grain, was just a little too much for my taste at that level.

I started my tests with the D700 at ISO 4000, well above what I would consider acceptable from my Canon 5D or 40D. I was astonished by the results. While I did notice some noise, it's nowhere near the level I would get from the Canon cameras at 1600. Here are the pictures I took at ISO 4000




Since I was satisfied with the results at ISO 4000, I decided to crank it up to 6400 and see what I got. The result: noise. While the pics did turn out quite noisy, ISO 6400 seems a bit extreme, and I will probably never have to use it. Of course, if I do, I can always do some noise reduction in my post processing if needed. Here are some of the pics I took at ISO 6400:




Wednesday, February 23, 2011

New Toy

I got a new toy today. For me. Not for the kids. For the past six or seven years I've been shooting with Canon cameras, starting with my Digital Rebel, and most recently with a 5D. Today I officially switched to the Dark Side. I'm now the proud owner of a Nikon D700. I haven't even had it a six hours and I'm already impressed. The focusing system is far superior to any Canon I've owned, and the amount of noise at high ISO settings is almost nonexistent compared to Canon. I am very impressed, and very happy with my decision.

Here are a few pics from my first few hours with the D700:








 


Tuesday, February 22, 2011

More Ice

Thanks to some frigid temperatures, yesterday's ice stuck around on all of the trees and utility lines and fences. Thankfully we have not lost power. A lot of people in our area have not been so lucky.

This morning when I saw the sun and clear skies, I decided to get outside with the camera again and get a few more pics.








Monday, February 21, 2011

Ice

Last night's weather was pretty nasty. Rain, sleet, freezing rain, snow. When I woke up this morning everything was coated in ice. Of course I took the camera out to take some pics.









Friday, February 18, 2011

Isn't It Too Early For This?

Our gas company has been replacing the main gas lines on our street for the past couple of months. Apparently it's a pretty drawn out process that requires them to run the line from one end of the street to the other, and then start over at the beginning and make their way down the street again. I gotta say, it's been great because it's provided several days worth of entertainment for the kids. They love watching the trucks and the diggers move up and down the street all day. KJ especially remains glued to the front window while they're out there. 

I did run into one concern today, tho. When all three were at the window, I asked them if they were watching the trucks and diggers, Juli replied simply "no dada, we not watching the trucks, we watching the men." And she actually emphasized "men". My jaw just about dropped to the floor. Isn't three a little too young to be going after construction workers?

Thursday, February 17, 2011

Triplets Around the House

Here are two of my favorites of KJ from a few weeks ago. He really seems to like when I have the camera out. He does all kinds of poses for me, from serious to silly.



Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Triplets Around the House

Two of my favorite shots of Juli from a few weeks ago. She has not been into the whole picture taking experience lately. It's difficult for me to get her to look at the camera, let alone smile.