New Prime Lens

I haven't posted for a while, so thought I would make an effort to start again. I have been taking some photos recently, but instead of trying to play catch-up, I am just going to start again. I recently got some money for my birthday and wanted to use it to buy a 50mm 1.8 prime lens. After some advice and searching on the internet I finally purchased the Nikon 50mm f1.8G, as the focus works with my Nikon D3000. I could have gotten one a lot cheaper, but having to deal with manual focusing whilst concentrating on everything else was not worth saving the money over.

Yesterday afternoon I decided to try out my new lens and got out in the garden to see what it could do.



Not entirely sure what this plant is, but it seemed to take a nice photo!

The buddleja is now in full bloom

I am impressed with the bokeh effect with this lens

I was really pleased to see one of my passion flowers has finally decided to flower.
Only one flower so far, but there are a few buds waiting to open.

I am really hoping this prime lens will help me to improve my composition. Instead of zooming in on my photographic subjects, this lens will help me to move around until I get the photo I am looking for. It will also come in helpful with pet photos, as it should eliminate my need for a flash, unless it is very poor lighting.

A Rather Wet Walk

As we had a shortbreak from the rain this morning, I enjoyed two walks with my 6 dogs. I took the opportunity to take my camera out on my first walk with Milo and Sweep, as they tend to be a bit neglected in the photo department, so thought I would dedicate some time to capturing the pair of them. We may not have had any rain, but the field was flooded, so ended up with two soggy dogs.

Milo doing his greyhound impression. He is believed to be a staffie x whippet x labrador, but that is just an educated guess as he came to us at around 10 months of age as a stray, so we do not know who his parents were.

Milo racing through the puddles to get to his precious ball.

Milo being a poser

Wink, wink!

Milo and Sweep together

Sweep being rewarded for sitting still for a change

The old man himself. Sweep is the old grump of our group and is affectionately known as Uncle Sweep as he keeps all of the younger dogs in check and stops any rough play.

A poodle and a puppy

While the weather was good at the start of this week, I took the chance to get some photos of the new pup I am puppy walking. I also took the opportunity to get some updated photos of my standard poodle girl while she was clean and presentable after her recent haircut.

Paigey pup - a 20 week old Blenheim Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. He is the meaning of cuteness and is so intelligent. He is definitely keeping me on my toes.

A rare still moment - he is difficult to photograph as he moves like lightning.

Flying in the wrong direction

His return flight was just as fast

Cute puppy pose

Lottie poodle showing off her rare clean look

Lottie in mid-stride

Happy poodle girl

We are now back to wet and miserable weather, so glad I took the chance to capture these two in the sunshine. 

Golden Retriever and a Different Camera

I love to take my camera out on my walks, but some days, just the thought of lugging around the weight of my camera and lens for an hour is just too much to contemplate. So today, I dug out my old Samsung digital camera and gave it a go. The results weren't fantastic, but good enough to get a few shots of the new dog on my walks. Lottie is a gorgeous, blonde, golden retriever girl that I am walking while her owner recovers from a foot op.

The smiley girl herself.

Stopping for a quick scratch

Admiring the view at the start of our walk. Note the dark sky. It did rain briefly on our walk, much to the disgust of Lottie - for a dog that loves all forms of water, she sure does not like rain!

I was waiting for Lottie to catch up after an intense sniffing session, when a robin landed on a bush just beside me. I dug out my camera, expecting him to fly off, but luckily he sat and posed for a photo.

Overall the camera was not too bad. It is not that great for action shots or zoom photos, but it was fine to get a few shots of this girl when there was a threat of rain and saved me carrying my DSLR around with me. Will have to hope for a day with nice weather over the next couple of weeks to take my DSLR and get some even better photos of this lovely girl.