Daily Archives: September 15, 2012

I gave my self permission to blow off the sunrise this morning and get some rest, and I sure feel better!  Four straight 4:00 a.m. roll outs were a little much for me.  When I did wake up this morning, still to early, my body is still on East coast time, I had time to think about the week and I made mental notes about some things I wanted to share with you folks!  I would like to do it as a series of Lists on various subjects!

 

The image above is of a WWII era Mustang first flown around 1940, and a F22 Raptor that went into service in 2005.  These two airplanes cover a part of aviation history that almost mirrors my life span, 65 years!  I was born February 9th, 1946, so I’m now 66.  This is the Heritage Flight that is done at most every air show,  honoring our military pilots.  It’s an amazing thing to see, below is another Heritage flight from a previous year that includes a P38 Lightening “Glacier Girl”!

 

 

When we come out to Air Shows and the Reno Air Races, most of my friends love to shoot planes in flight, which is not my strong suit, but a couple of years ago when the Blue Angels were performing I got the shot of a lifetime!  When the two lead planes fly right at each other at 500 mph, you try to fire the shutter just as they are nose to nose, but not appearing to touch.  In the shot below, I got the entire rest of the team circling around and directly under them!!!  Dumb luck on the rest of the pack, even a blind squirrel finds and acorn every once in a while!

 

So on to the lists!

 

Ten Reasons a D600 and D7000 might be the Dream Team.

1.  They are near perfect in size and weight, both well built, and not a burden to carry!

2.  16 and 24 mega pixels is more than enough for 95% of everything you will ever photograph!

3.  Both cameras use the fantastic and cheap, MN-L3 Wireless Remotes, translation, zero movement!

4.  Both cameras allow the use of all the legacy Nikkor glass!

5.  The D7000 has the smoothest release and is the quietest DSLR we’ve ever made, we’ll see on the D600.

6.  Both have 100% viewfinders and good magnification.

7.   The frame rates are 5.5 and 6 frames respectfully which is good enough for everything except extreme action.

8.  Both shoot 1080P video and the D600 is fully ready with multiple frame rates, and mic in and headphone out, and HDMI!

9.  Both cameras use dual SD cards, so you can finally stop having to carry Compact Flash cards, and they both use the same EN-EL15 battery!

10. Here is the kicker, if you buy this fall you can have two killer bodies for only around $3,100.

 

Five Reasons why I will always have a D800 (until it’s replaced with something better!).

1.  I can’t live without that industry leading resolution!

2.  I have to have that incredible gradation (see the images from the last two days!!)

3.  The color, saturation and dynamic range is superior to anything else I’ve ever used!

4.  It’ just feels so good in your hands, just enough heft, but not too heavy!

5.  At $3,000 it’s simply one of the best values in the history of Nikon cameras!

 

The Five Most Important Reasons I Do This Blog!

1.  I’ve found the greatest secret of life and I can’t keep it just to myself!!  God Loves me, He sent His Son to die for me, and I’ve accepted Him, and I’m now forgiven, free, and filled with His peace and joy!!

2.  A daily relationship with our Heavenly Father leads to deeper spiritual growth, which leads to a life better than you could even imagine.

3.  When you love God and give Him your life, it frees Him to bless you beyond measure, which in turn allows you to bless others with His love and peace.

4.  When you trust God with your life, he empowers you to forgive others.  When you forgive others it opens the door to them finding their Heavenly Father, and life eternal.

5.  I love sharing the great joy and peace He has given me, I want everyone to experience this wonderful life changing event!

 

Six Things I wish I could do: 

1. Go home and be with my wife!  (I love what I do, but I miss her when we are apart!)

2. Be able to do HDR like Jim Begley and R. C. Concepcion.

3.  Know 10% of what Scott Kelby and Matt Kloskowski know about Photoshop and Lightroom!

4.  Have 10% of Jay Maisel’s ability to see graphically!

5.  Have 10% of the knowledge of Bill Pekala about Nikon, Nikons, and the photo industry!

6.  Find some chocolate that has 0 points on weight Watchers!!!

 

Have a great weekend!

 

In Him,

 

the pilgrim

 

P.S.   If you have enjoyed the aviation stuff this week, you need to get the incredible new iPad app from Moose Peterson called Taking Flight!  It is exceptionally well done, way to go Moose!