Filoli in February

Sometimes the weather just cooperates. Today was such a day at FILOLI, Lurline Roth's garden estate in Woodside, California. The coolness of a late February afternoon, with the sun behind the clouds, made taking images fairly easy. No flash or modifiers were needed. I purposefully did not bring my tripod; I wanted to practice my technique with my 80-200mm zoom. I placed the D200 mode on Shutter priority, so that I would take pictures at speeds I could hand-hold. Why do that with flowers, leaves and landscapes? I wanted to see if I could consistently hand-hold my camera rig for practice before an upcoming wedding ceremony in Hawaii next month.

Yes, I found out that if I kept the speed 1/125 and faster, placed my elbows into my body, and slowly exhaled as I shot, my pictures were sharp. Depth of field had to be controlled, of course. But I accomplished what I set out to do. More images can be found here.

We have been to FILOLI to take stock pictures for a year now. So it is nice to see how the grounds start off--as barren grounds, just before the plantings begin in March. Will be back there for the manicured patchwork of color that will sure to brighten my spirit.



Next Post: Filoli - A Week Later

Nikon USA Has Been Good To Me

I hardly ever use Nikon, because my equipment has worked in heat and rain and snow. I've grown accustomed to not worrying much about how much abuse the equipment can take, even though I sorta baby everything.

When I bot a Nikon D200, I also purchased a 2 year (additional) Warranty from Nikon. I don't know why I did it, because in general, Warranty plans don't plan out economically. But it was my first digital camera, so I plunged.

A few years later, I found dust on my camera, and the metering system tended to underexpose by about a stop. I sent the D200 back to Nikon under the Warranty. I didn't send it at the optimal time, being just before Christmas. Well, it came back 3 weeks/2 days later on January 5th. Now remember, the repair facility went through 2 major holidays, and I'm not a Nikon PRO. So given the holiday period, I was expecting the camera to be sent back in mid-late January.

Nikon exceeded my expectations.

Here's what I wanted: Dust Cleaned of my Sensor & Meter adjusted to Nikon specs.

Here's what they did for me:
Replaced Mode SW
Replaced Rewind Side rubber
Replace CF Cardholder rubber
Adjusted auto focu operation
Checked Meter Accuracy
Firmware upgraded
Replaced rubber grip
Checked image test
Checked meter operation
Adjusted exposure

The D200 was returned with all that I sent them, in much, much better shape.

Sometime is pays to pay more for exemplary service. Thanks, Nikon.

Next Post: FILOLI in February