Some off topic from software testing here (as if I have a lot of 'on-topic', but well...).  Yesterday, a few friends and I decided to go crazy and wander around town for a quick photo shooting session.  The weather was cranky (cloudy and off-n-on drizzle) and cold, but since I just got a hand on my newest toy (D200 + VR 18-200mm zoom lens + 50mm f1.8 lens), I just had to go and test drive them out.

We ventured off back to Amazon.com HQ up on Beacon hill, where I was hoping to get a glimpse of the Seattle downtown with sun rise  in the background.  But since the weather was not co-operating, all I got was a typical gray and wet looking shot of downtown.  The pigeon was so curious that it had to check us out.

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Then we decided to head up to Alki beach for even more gray and wet looking shots of downtown (but with the puget sound in between as a bonus).  The seagull was already there, but I was curious so I had to check it out.

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And then came the highlight of the day, where we got smart and decided to go to Volunteer Park where there is an indoor flower Conservatory.  Temperature was a comfortable 70+ °F and the flowers were very pretty and fragant.  The pictures that I got were amazing (thank you D200!) and in the process I got to learn more about my new equipment.  Here are some samples:

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More pics can be found at http://www.flickr.com/photos/65021437@N00/sets/72157603467276292/show/

Lessons learnt:

  1. Initially when I got the camera, I was not able to get the sharpness out of the D200 compared with my trusty D70.  Another thing which I found out was also that the D200 gave a much more warmer and softer tone than the D70.  But then I finally took the time to study the manual and also happened to stumble upon a cheat-sheet at Nikonian.org.  This was a god send and gave me much more control over the camera.
  2. The fixed Nikkor 50mm f1.8D prime lens was absolutely fantastic.  For the low low price of $109, it is definitely the best deal ever.  The picture was very crisp and sharp.  The only downside is I bumped into many strangers using my 'zoom legs'.  How did I live for so long without it was still a mystery to me.  If you own a Nikon DSLR, you gotta have it.
  3. Hello ViewNx, Bye bye Photshop.  I have a CS3, but I just found it to be so heavy-weight.  My learning ability and concentration level has depreciated to that of my soon-to-be 4 year old kid and I just don't have the time nor effort to learn new software skills :).  I shoot everything in RAW format and with the ViewNx, I am able to edit my image in the same exact way I could do using the camera and I got to learn how to setup the camera (espeically with the white balancing) the next time I am in a similar shot.  In my opinion, post-editing using CS3 would be cheating :D
  4. Patience is really a virtue.  I had to wait for almost 30 mins out in the cold for the sun to shine through the cloud for one of the shot with the statue looking directly into the sun. 

Any comments/feedbacks are welcome.