Sunrise from my deck

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http://treehuggergirl.zenfolio.com/

Wow. Beautiful.
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Wolf Cry

Stunning! You are one very lucky (and talented) MWAC.

Regards

Colin
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It’s hard to be optimistic, with misty optics.

You poor dear, to have to live there and endure something like that every morning. My condolences, but someone has to do it so I guess it might as well be you.

Hello Crystal,

It's so nice to wake up to this, sure beats the city life! I'm surprised I haven't seen you post sunrises from your deck before, or have you?

Now, if you have a zoom lens it would be great to catch a sunrise in it's full glory rising from behind the mountains and reflecting in the water, have been looking for an opportunity like that to use my 500mm Bigma with the 2x.
Thanks for sharing,
Cyrus

Such a hard life!!!!!!!

I took this one in Greenland last month during the 1 hour the sun actually set, nowhere near as good as yours Crystal and I don't care for my shot too much but some people have liked it:

http://chrisstanhope.smugmug.com/gallery/1756239/1/87341378

Chris

beautiful colours and wonderful capture.... please may I come and stay with you for a holiday? Thanks for sharing, Crystal.
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http://www.pbase.com/esed
Knowledge of thyself will preserve thee from vanity.

I actually just got rid of my 70-210mm because it just wasn't up to par. Traded it in for a Series E 75-150 f3.5 (dying to see if it lives up to its cult status), but I'm still trying to figure out what to do for a longer reach.

How do you like your Bigma? Do you have any images you've taken with it to show? I'm almost sold on the Nikon 300mm F4 with the 1.4 TC, because of these images I saw on the Nikon lens forum:
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1030&message=19909776

Unfortunately, I'll have to wait for Santa to bring this to me, and only if I'm lucky...

My other option is a 50-300mm Nikkor zoom that KEH has on hold for me. I have the $ for this now. Its an old lens that not many people know about, but Bjorn Roslett really likes it, and this one I found is cheeeeeep, so I'm considering checking out. If I don't like it, I think I can sell it on eBay for more than I'm buying it for. So not a lot of risk involved, and I get to 300mm (at f4.5) for a lot less than the other options.

Any other suggestions for the tele end?

Thanks as always for commenting Cyrus. I'm wondering what you've been up to...read that you had computer issues. I hope they're resolved and I hope to see some new stuff from you very soon.

Kind regards,
Crystal

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http://treehuggergirl.zenfolio.com/

When does this sunrise thing happen?

Thank you for the link Crystal, those photos were exceptional specially the last one.

Yes, I was very busy for a couple of weeks and then the cable connection problem, thank you for the inquiry.

Crystal, I personally like this lens very much. It has a very long range and it's very practical but heavy and extended, it looks like a bazooka! I know some say that it is not sharp enough wide open but the images below were all taken without a tripod and a big majority of them wide open. My personal problem with a shorter lens is that I always feel it's a tease. Even at 500mm most of the time you wish your had a longer lens. Of course it will never be as good as a Nikon prime but with good technique, it will be close enough, specially if you consider adding a 1.4, 1.7 TC to Nikon 300mm F4. With that set up you will be close to the speed of this lens at 6.3 at 500mm. And I'm not sure if with that set up the image quality would match what I get with the Bigma. Those shots at the soccer field are diluted crops of the original as they were shot from across the field, not bad, you can even see the eye lashe These photos have not been properly sharpened and definitely not sharpened for the web.

Having said all that, at first, I mainly bought the bigma to shoot into the sun. The picture with the biggest sun in it, with the sun flares showing was the first JPG shot I made with this lens combined with the 2xTC. I didn't have the proper eye protection and I was trying to zoom hand held. That is what I was imagining taking on your porch.

Oh, by the way, a good number of those dragonflies I posted sometime ago were taken with this lens.
Best wishes.

Cyrus,

These are incredible pictures, truly outstanding. Is that with the Sigma 50-500?

I think a big zoom will be my next purchase, not sure out of the 70-210vr, 80-400vr or a sigma non vr one.

Chris

Hello Chris,

Thank you so much for the kind comment. Yes, a big zoom could be a lot of fun. The 70-200 seems to be very good all around lens but won't count it as a big zoom and I know you woun't either. 80-400 is a good lens, a friend of mine has it, but slow and it is not an AFS lens. The bigma is is a bigand heavy lens but I am happy with it and the focus works well for me.

All these photos were takenwith the bigma. The last few at the socer field were taken on a monopod and the rest were taken either shooting like a rifle or leaning against something, either me or the camea. few of those birds were taken at, as slow as 1/15 at 500mm, ISO 400-800.
Tanks aain,
Best regards.

Chrystal, Nice backyard, or is it the frontyard ? Wow Wow Wow..........
Cyrus,

Very impressive results Cyrus, I had this lens briefly (before I decided to exchange it for the 70-200VR) It did not work well for me at all but I wish now I would be able to spend some more time with it (now that I have a better tripod and monopod) I am terible at handholding unless I'm panning, but as they say practise makes you a litle better.

Best regards, Ed

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http://www.pbase.com/lightrover

Nice colors.

What is the name of the "pond"?

Thanks...........Carl

is a big, shallow desert lake called Honey Lake. Probably 20 miles long and 30-40 miles wide or so. If we get enough drought years, it totally disappears. Then after about two good years of rainfall it fills back up. It finally filled up last year after being dry for about 4 years or so.

Its east of my house so I get to watch the sun and moon rise on it, when there's water. A nice feature, for sure!
Thanks for looking .
Crystal

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http://treehuggergirl.zenfolio.com/

Wow - Greenland. That's not a destination that I hear a lot of people talking about visting! Was it for vacation? I like your sunrise shot. What were those boats doing out there so early?

You should have ordered up some more clouds from mother nature . I took some sunrise shots the day before, with no clouds, and there's no comparison. Clouds make the subject much more interesting, from the forms they make to the colors they help the sun rays to produce.

Thanks for the link to your Greenland photo album. I'm off for a look-see. And I am also looking forward to seeing the new baby pictures.

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http://treehuggergirl.zenfolio.com/

Crystal,

Thanks. I didn't recognize lake with the lighting. I have been by it several times on 395. My picture of it years ago in film, was on a very windy day with whitecaps up on the lake. Giving meaning to the "honey" naming, as it looked like pure mud. "to thick to drink and to thin to plow".

Your capture of it in the dawn was certainly better than mine driving by..

Before retiring from corrections I thought it would be nice to work at the prison there. My wife could have transferred there in State service also. I live in the central part of the state.

keep shooting.........Carl

--Looks like you are getting tha same smoke we are. Very nice shot!!
Fred W. Cornelius

Crystal, I've been busy and am just trying to catch up a bit on posts! Sunrise got my attention. That is a gorgeous shot and I wish I lived where you do. The nearest open water that size is about three to four hours drive away from me.

I'm simply amazed you haven't posted any shots of this lake before. I'd love to see more. Well done. Magnificent.

Rather noble of you to bury these so discreetly within Crystal's thread. Please don't tempt me with more lenses. The Nikon 300 prime is out of my range but the Bigma isn't, unfortunately.

Thank you for the joy of the sun and birds. The dragonflies, of course, I remember enjoying when you posted them before.