Cherry Pie

Several weeks ago, the photo club that I'm a part of hosted a pastry shoot. Let me just say, there's not much a photog can do with food to make it look interesting, especially when there are 20 other photogs trying to take pictures of the same subject. However, I was able to get a few decent shots.

Great Balls of Fire

A couple of weekends ago, Reese mentioned that the UH women's tennis team would be competing at the tennis courts on campus. Since I was in the neighborhood, I decided to stop by and check it out. There were hardly any spectators that day. What's pretty neat about shooting at the courts is that you can walk around freely and not worry that you're going to block someone's view of the match. Here are some shots I took. 

Swing, Swing

Every January, Waialae Country Club plays host to the Sony Open. When the actual tournament starts, cameras are not allowed on the course. However, the days before actual play begins are practice rounds for the pros and Waialae CC allows spectators to come inside to watch and photograph these guys play.  I was fortunate to see two pro players I knew and one local celebrity there.

Stewart Cink teeing off at one of the Par 3 holes

My paparazzi shot of the "Bad Boy of Golf" John Daly

This is why he is a pro...notice his head is pointed
down to the ground even after he has hit the ball?

Got to chat briefly with "Kaniele" Danny Kaleikini. Really nice guy!

The weather was perfect for golf.
Not sure if it stayed like this for them the whole week, but it worked out well for me.  LOL!

Flying Upside Down

Happy New Year, my friends! May 2013 bring all of us joy, prosperity and more opportunities to shoot great photos! 

I've been told that the Nikon D700 outperforms the newer D800 in frame rate. The D700 can shoot up to 8 fps while the D800 can do only up to 4 fps. Maybe because the D800 has 3x the number of megapixels than the 12mp D700? Anyway, I decided to see what fast looks like. These photos were taken with my Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 lens.

Suddenly I See

I've had my D3200 for a little over 7 months now. I've been "joking" that it's time for a new camera because I'm starting to outgrow it. I thought eventually I would like to upgrade my camera to a full frame one, but probably not for another two years. A couple of days ago, I was presented an offer I could not turn down. So now, I am an owner of a full frame D700.

If you don't know the difference between Full Frame vs. Cropped Frame DSLR Cameras, here is a little write-up explaining the differences. 

One photog friend told me, "You are now on a whole different level of photography." Another told me, "You will see a big difference because the photos will look so much better and you will never be able to go back (to a cropped frame camera)." 

I'm actually seeing a big difference after just shooting with it for a couple of days now. Here are some photos I took with the D700 that I don't think I could've gotten with the D3200.

Taken with Nikon 20mm f/2.8 lens

Taken with Nikon 60mm Micro f/2.8 lens
(Can you see the ants?)

Taken with Nikon 60mm Micro f/2.8 lens

Taken with Nikon 60mm Micro f/2.8 lens

Taken with Nikon 60mm Micro f/2.8 lens
(Look at the legs on that ant!)

Taken with Nikon 50mm f/1.4 lens
(I have an extremely difficult time shooting with this lens on the D3200, but I didn't
have the same problems while using it on the D700.  It was so hard for me to use,
that I always dreaded using it. I'm hoping that will change now.)