Catching summer by it's tail feathers

Last August, we headed north to spend a long weekend on Texel, which is one of the Dutch islands in the Wadden Sea. Hoping for the last couple of sunbeams summer might still be offering, it proved to be against all odds as rain and wind were what the Gods had in store for us. In between showers, we got out nonetheless and the kids loved being on the beach. As usual, I dragged out way too much gear only to find out that I spent most of those 3,5 days shooting with the much bashed and battered Nikon 24-120 VR (the "old" one) on my D700. It turned out to be a very versatile lens indeed and I have yet to find evidence of it's proclaimed shortcomings. Talking about it: someday, I will dedicate a very hefty post to that subject. Yes, there's room for outspoken opinions here too :)

When selecting one of those shots to illustrate this post, I almost automatically decided for this one. It has some kind of "epicness" surrounding it, yet it's merely portraying my son Luuk who desperately tries to catch a kite hovering above him in strong winds. The reflection of the sunlight on his blond hair and the beach, combined with the dark skies and dramatic arm gestures turned this into something special.

Edit: how could I deny Sophie from this particular post? Here she is:

Ancient engineering marvels

Well.. That is if you're like me, from the days when Bruce Springsteed was still entertaining the folks in Asbury Park, lenses from that era seem "ancient". The shot below came fully unprepared when I was sitting outside, fiddling with my D2Xs and some MF lenses I scooped up online.

One of them was a Nippon Kogaku 180mm Nikkor-P f/2.8 Auto (how's that for a name, eh?) built between 1977 and 1981. It came with a warning that one of the blades appeared to be malfunctioning, causing incorrect metering from f/4 onward. I have no idea whether that is what's actually causing it's -indeed- odd behaviour, but this puppy really delivers wide open and that was the only demand I had. Just when I was randomly pointing the heavy 180mm at stuff to make some test shots, my daughter climbed the chair in front of me. She was so close that I broke most of the camera-holding-rules out there, bending my head backwards but low and behold, the D2Xs's focus indicator lit and I fired away.

I was amazed after feeding the series to Lightroom. It may be a whole lot of nothing but above all, it turned out to be one the most appreciated portraits I'd ever shot. I've been sold to  screwing old optics onto new Nikons ever since. When I switched to Canon, the small Domke bag with the D2Xs and the MF lenses remained.

Five years - looking back

August 2005 was when I boarded a KLM 777 to San Francisco. In a plane full of strangers, I spent my first official working day at Cisco Systems. More than half of those strangers were actually colleagues but at the time I only knew very few of them. It was a day that marked many things in my life yet only one of them really fits the context of this blog: in my carry-on sat a brand new Nikon D50, my very first DSLR. I knew the years ahead would be special in many respects, starting with a week in SanFran followed immediately by a previously booked holiday in Portugal. That was a good enough reason to go fetch the Nikon and to give it my best while I was away. 

Perhaps it was beginner's luck, but anyway, this is the picture that got me hooked on photography. It was taken in Frisson, a dinner lounge on Jackson St in SanFran's financial district. I used the 18-55mm kitlens and an SB-600. Apparently the place is closed now, but the memory remains: