Dustin Diaz Photography

56/365. For Frodo! ~ Aragorn (LOTR)

I didn't think I would think this so early, but... I love my SB-900. Having owned an SB-600 for so long, I didn't think there was anything more than I would love from the 900 except more power, and larger zoom range on the head. Oh no no. Just the UI itself was fun to play with. Despite my interest in learning the math behind flash exposure... I don't "actually" like thinking about when I'm taking pictures. And yet at the same time, I don't want full TTL either.
Enter the SB-900 with it's cool ability for you to just plugin numbers, and let it do its thing. Tell it what aperture you want at what ISO for a given distance — it recommends a power setting :) — Not to mention, you can also set it to "distance priority" where my camera sends it my exposure information, and the flash makes up the exposure based on how far away your subject is (LOVE).

If all that was jibberish to you.... here it is in simple terms (by the way, this counts as my strobist info).

I walked up to that tree on the left, set my flash on a stand behind it, and pointed it over at that other tree on the right. I set the zoom head to 24mm (even though I had a 50mm prime on my camera), then thought to myself "Hey, It's Bokeh Wednesday!" — So I told the flash I wanted to make an exposure at f/1.4. I also made a "guestimate" that the tree was ~about~ 10 feet away.... so I twisted the power setting dial until I saw a reading of 10 feet.
I walked away, kneeled down, and took this shot. It was like magic :)

Yes, I know, not the most exciting photo in the world, but I was quite happy with how well lit such an ordinary scene was.

And now that I'm done boring you, Happy Bokeh Wednesday!

12/365. So take this moment Mary Jane and be selfish ~ Alanis Morissette.

Today I received my new Nikon hand strap (not made in USA (buy them from Hong Kong on Ebay)). I have to say, it feels much more natural holding my camera now... even though the instructions say you can't use it with a D700 + MB-D10. For Canon, Sony, Pentax users, this works for you too and I would highly recommend it if you can't stand those annoying neck straps.

Anyhow, about the photo, the leaves came back despite the gardeners raking them up. I shot them, reviewed the photos, and they were lame. Just near the end of my little 10 minute walk, I came across these little dealies in the grass. I know, I know, there's already a bajillion on flickr already, but this one reminded me of an Alanis Morissette song. I think it fits quite well.

Oh, and how do I say "See ya'll tomorrow" without saying it everyday? Cheers for the twelth day.

I had to pull this one out of the weeds. I thought to myself, "this would make a good picture...." so I pulled it from the ground (they were dying anyway) and put it up against the trees (I must have looked like an idiot taking this shot), and snapped away.

Erin bought these beautiful flowers for Thanksgiving dinner. They're still doing well. Happy Bokeh Wednesday Everybody!
And please, if you could help it, no logos :/

without ducks