Renaissance Festival 06b (2010)

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Nikon D300s, AF-S DX Nikkor 18-200 mm F/3.5-5.6G ED VR II
ISO-200, f/9, 1/320 sec
Photo taken 10/30/10 by Jim Mahood

Renaissance Festival 05 (2010)

This is a cropped-in shot from the same show of the previous two postings. Because it is closer-in, many of the spots and stains in the curtains stood out, and had to be removed. Again, the shadows were lightened a bit to bring out the curtain color, and midtone contrast was increased to make the bubbles stand out, as they are supposed to be the focus of the picture.

Last night my wife told me of a friend that she loves to listen to, as this friend can bring out the joy in the simplest of life experiences. Is that not true also of photography? I believe so. Some of the best pictures ever taken are of candid experiences (human or animal), many of them encountered by accident. Or even an inanimate object, which is captured in its purposed place and time. Those of us who can see - and share - these moments and objects are blessed indeed.


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Nikon D300s, AF-S DX Nikkor 18-200 mm F/3.5-5.6G ED VR II
ISO-200, f/9, 1/320 sec
Photo taken 10/30/10 by Jim Mahood

Renaissance Festival 04a (2010)

I was standing in the far back of the audience, zooming in all the way to get what these guys were doing. At ISO 200 the exposure time was 1/320 seconds. The curtains for this capture as well as the next few looked almost black, so lightened the shadows a bit on all of them...


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Nikon D300s, AF-S DX Nikkor 18-200 mm F/3.5-5.6G ED VR II
ISO-200, f/9, 1/320 sec
Photo taken 10/30/10 by Jim Mahood

Renaissance Festival 04b (2010)

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Nikon D300s, AF-S DX Nikkor 18-200 mm F/3.5-5.6G ED VR II
ISO-200, f/9, 1/320 sec
Photo taken 10/30/10 by Jim Mahood

Renaissance Festival 03 (2010)

These guys made the perfect Mario Brothers. I was a little more careful this year about pictures of spectators and audience members. The performers and regulars relished having their pictures taken and would spontaneously pose any time a camera pointed in their direction. With others - and especially kids - it is necessary to exercise careful judgment...


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Nikon D300s, AF-S DX Nikkor 18-200 mm F/3.5-5.6G ED VR II
ISO-200, f/6.3, 1/160 sec
Photo taken 10/30/10 by Jim Mahood

Renaissance Festival 02 (2010)

Catching the right moments during a show was a bit easier with the Big Cahoona, thanks to its higher burst rate. Also, thanks to the high resolution sensor it is possible to crop way in and make a decent shot-within-a-shot. In fact, this is one of the reasons I chose the D300s over the D700...the pixels are closer together, therefore cropped-in shots appear sharper.


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Nikon D300s, AF-S DX Nikkor 18-200 mm F/3.5-5.6G ED VR II
ISO-200, f/6.3, 1/160 sec
Photo taken 10/30/10 by Jim Mahood

Renaissance Festival 01 (2010)

In 2009 we went to the Renaissance Festival in Plantersville, when I used the Fujifilm 7000 and posted favorites from April 8 - May 5, 2010. Back in October we went again, this time bringing the Big Cahoona. I didn't feel that the pics would turn out as well, but was surprised at being able to keep a couple dozen good enough for posting in this blog.

I did have to throw away a vast majority, as the exposure compensation was set on the wrong side of zero and most were too bright. Once I discovered my mistake things started to look up.

I will begin by posting the myriad characters - from the "regulars" such as this guy, to some of the performers, to the spectators that dress the part - that make up the odd culture of folks that participate in the festival. This being only our second year to attend, it was still unique and fresh enough to be interesting. The bright and varied colors everywhere made for some good photography. On top of that, we brought some folks fresh from Taiwan, and it's always interesting to see how Asians react to the sights and sounds and oddities that are seen everywhere...


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Nikon D300s, AF-S DX Nikkor 18-200 mm F/3.5-5.6G ED VR II
ISO-200, f/4.5, 1/125 sec
Photo taken 10/30/10 by Jim Mahood

Bahama Cruise 26 - At Sea

This and the previous two postings really are nothing more than copies of art done by someone else. This one, however, is a cut above the other two. This huge mosaic occupies a wall adjacent to a double stairwell in one of the cafeterias. Could not get a good, head-on angle, so made liberal use of the Perspective and Free Transform tools in Photoshop. Thanks to the high resolution possible with the Big Cahoona, each individual tile is clearly delineated from its neighbors when zooming way in.

This is the last posting from our vacation cruise. Now that it's all said and done, was it worth it lugging the Big Cahoona around? I would say yes and no. I learned a few things, and gained some confidence in using some of the adjustments and controls. It was certainly a good sign that the professionals on board were all using the D300. Some of the images turned out fairly well.

On the other hand, my heart sank more than a few times when a companion (my brother-in-law's brother) consistently pulled from his shirt pocket a little bitty point-and-shoot and snapped pictures that had equivalent resolution, better white balance indoors, a much faster lens, and optical zoom capabilities that rivaled the Big Cahoona. Some of his night shots of the ship taken from shore were astounding. All of this with hardly a thought about controls and keeping up with this and that. It would be possible, but I would have to spend a lot more money to buy lenses that can achieve the same results. Several times during this trip I struggled to convince myself that the potential will one day justify six times the money spent on my new friend, once I really learn how to use it.

Then I relaxed a little. After all, that was the purpose of buying the Big Cahoona in the first place! ... to conquer something that has, for me, a steep learning curve. This is a hobby, a distraction from the stresses of job and life in the big city. As such, it is all the camera I will ever need. With that I feel grateful and blessed.

Bahama Cruise 25 - At Sea

Bahama Cruise 24 - At Sea

As tradition goes, they had an ice sculpture on the Lido deck. These things are fascinating, and make for good photo opportunities. It was very crowded, so getting a good clean shot was difficult, but did manage to snap a few...