Happy Thanksgiving, Part 2

(continued from Part 1)

I'm actually quite comfortable working with my Nikon D80 with its vertical grip, and our Tamron zooms and Nikon prime lenses. The Tamron SP 17-50mm F2.8 has pretty much become my every day lens, unless the situation clearly calls for a different focal length. My wife is using the Tamron 18-200mm that was initially purchased with the Nikon D50, and frankly, I continue to be blown away by some of the images she is able to capture with that lens. I would have no problem taking it on another trip to Nepal & Tibet. It’s an excellent walk-around lens. We also have the Tamron 70-300mm which she acquired with her Nikon N65 (aka F65) film camera and its 28-80mm kit lens some years ago. (We keep thinking we're going to shoot more film, but we never seem to get around to it.) The Tamron 70-300mm is a fine lens for the price. Neither of us do a lot of longer telephoto work here in the SF Bay Area, though I might bring it along on an overseas trip, even though it's not that fast. Our Nikon primes (50mm F1.8 & 35mm F1.8) are tack sharp, and have more than proven themselves on multiple shoots, when using flash was not appropriate.

Then Nikon introduced the D300s. True, it's just an evolutionary progression from the already very popular D300, which already has some very nice improvements over the D80, and the D300s added even more. Based on the reviews, there were at least 6 features that would be very, very nice to have. In the meantime, my need for an external flash continued, if not increased...

We're blessed with an excellent pro shop nearby in Palo Alto, with a great rental department. Their amazing array of gear, total expertise and ready advice, makes renting lenses from them a very worthwhile experience. I've also been renting one of their two Nikon SB-800 speedlights for various event shoots. And even though they've always had one available, I wondered if the day might arrive when they didn't, and the event that really required a flash?

So a couple of weeks ago, I arrived at the pro shop, credit card in hand, ready to buy an SB-600. Yes, it doesn't have the reach of the SB-800; I've already discovered that, but it was also close to half the price of the SB-900. And there's always one of those two rental units, which could also open up the possibilities of using a second flash. Something my older son Tim was doing 5 years ago. (He was also, by the way, the one that encouraged me to move up from my point & shoot to a DSLR.)

Based on a couple of other podcasts, I also purchased the Gary Fong LightSphere Universal flash diffuser, and the secondary Chrome Dome disc for rooms with higher ceilings. I also ordered Joe McNally's Hot Shoe Diaries, Big Light from Small Flashes. I'm really enjoying this book!

Needless to say, all of this has added a whole new dimension to my photography. More in subsequent posts...

So there's much to be thankful for this Thanksgiving, just in my photography world!