So, it's finally come to this?

Yes, I'm blogging about my dog. Slow photography day? Just a little.

Not-so-much as blogging about my dog, but blogging about the lens with which I took this picture of my dog. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, a new 50mm lens. Purchased yesterday, a new Nikkor 50mm AF-S f1.8g lens. If that makes no sense to you whatsoever, just know that the 'S' is the all-important bit. It stands for Silent Wave Motor, which means on my D5000 I can auto focus. Happy day!

The next most important bit is the f1.8. It means I can have a pretty-big-thank-you-very-much aperture. Not as big as f1.4, but about $600 cheaper. So, again, happy day.

And yes, these shots are horribly over-exposed. White dog + sunny afternoon + big aperture = over-exposed shots. But, you see, now I can shoot (with some degree of focus) at f1.8, and dammit I'm going to use it. 

I should have wound it back a bit, so that my poor-old pooch didn't come out looking like she was in a snow storm. But, I just couldn't. 

And when I looked at these shots, I kinda liked them. A white blur with a black nose. It pretty-much sums up my dog. 

x

Not happy Jan....

I know, I know....such a grumpy title to go with these peaceful-looking images. The fact is, I am back at work. Long-service leave over with a capital Oh-Dear-God-I-Just-Want-To-Sleep-In. As nice as it is to see all the lovely people I work with, staying home and playing around with Photoshop (whilst wearing my slippers) was infinitely better. I spent lots of time designing stuff to hang on my walls. Artwork I guess it's called. Strangely, designing was easier than working out how to get it printed to any kind of standard. Still, quicker than you can say "I'll have another IKEA frame thank you very much", I have some custom-made designs framed and hung. I even have one hanging at my sister's place.

All of which relates not-at-all to these shots taken with my Nikon way-back-when my teenager was still little-ish. Having had no time at all to take pics (a fulltime job 'll do that) I was scrolling back with a hefty dose of nostalgia (and not a little grumpiness - hence the title), and came upon these. They were taken with my 50mm lens (the one I have trouble focusing), with my camera set to manual mode. I bravely waded into manual as I wanted a shallow depth of field with a fast-ish shutter speed. A good portion of them were terrible, but some were not-too-bad. And, addicted to Photoshop as I now am, I have made a little collage for y'all. 

So, tomorrow it's back to the real job - the one that pays the bills. But tonight, I'm happy to be back in my slippers one more time.

x