A View from Above

Today I wanted to give you a VIP view of the Salone Margherita.  Only a few people are actually permitted to go upstairs and look down on this beautiful and historic dance floor in the center of Naples, Italy.  We have since made friends with the owners and have some wonderful access and photo opportunities.  Anyways, I included the full resolution D800 photo for you pixel-peeping pleasure.  I hope you enjoy!!

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An Evening in Piazza Plebiscito

Well, now that I have recovered from the weekend I will start posting again!  Boating on Sunday was a blast, even with the resulting sunburn (Gingers tend to fry if we aren’t careful).  I will post some of my favorite photos for tomorrow’s post, so stay tuned!

Today I wanted to share a couple of photos from Piazza Plebiscito in Naples, Italy.  Just a few minutes walk from the Salone Margherita, Piazza Plebiscito is a popular tourist destination and a wonderful place to spend some time when you are strolling through this unique city.  The Piazza is also used for many events, concerts, and celebrations.  I was lucky enough to see Elton John perform here a couple of years ago with thousands of other screaming, rowdy Italians. 

Initially, there was an Italian Army jeep sitting smack dab in the middle of this frame.  Some of the nicest people I have come across, they were happy to move their vehicle so I could set up and take a few shots.  The top photo is a generous panoramic crop of a regular sized image, but due to the D800′s immense 36.3 megapixel count, I was able to maintain a tremendous amount of quality and detail.  This small view area here does not do the photos justice, so I recommend you click on each to check out the detail yourself.  Don’t fret if it takes a minute or two to load, the files are around 10 and 20 mb files.  :)   Enjoy!

Thanks for visiting!!

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Yachting to Ischia

I suppose we weren’t exactly on a yacht, but it made for a better title than “Boating to Ischia”.  Last Saturday was the maiden voyage for our friends’ boat.  Still lacking a name, the “Boat” didn’t let us down, and after battling some heavy seas at first, we were delivered safely to the beautiful island of Ischia.  The shots below are a bunch of grabs I was able to catch with my D7000 and 50mm f/1.4.  I went for something different in the processing, lowering contrast and giving the shots a warmer feel.  Please let me know what you think!  Thanks to the Sanchez, Hogan, and Wayland Family for being such awesome friends (and putting up with my ever-present camera in their faces).  Enjoy!

Have a great weekend!!

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7300 Pixels of Awesomeness

The weekend is just around the corner and boy am I ready for its arrival!  This weekend should prove to be a busy one – Photography at the Salone Margherita Friday night, birthday party Saturday, and boating all day Sunday.  I should have a heap of new photos for all of you to enjoy next week!

Today I wanted to try sharing the High Resolution JPEGs from last night’s photo shoot in Monte di Procida.  A friend and I met up to catch a wonderful sunset, the perfect opportunity to get more acquainted with my new Nikon D800.  I have shot at this location a few other times, but wanted to try it with the new camera. 

If you are interested in seeing what the 100% JPEG images look like, click the photo and it will open up large.  Scroll around the shot and see how much detail this camera can actually capture.  I think they measure around 7300 pixels on the long edge (big enough to see every blemish, spec of dust, and other debris - of which I actually just noticed in a couple of spots!!)…  These files can provide for some amazing large prints to decorate you house!  Anyways, enjoy, and feel free to share!

Thanks for visiting!!  Feel free to subscribe to posts by email so you don’t miss a photo – upper right column :)

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Breaking in the D800

After a long wait, I finally have my shiny, new Nikon D800.  It is awesome.  It is the first full frame camera I have ever held in my hands, and it feels like a beast.  Seeing my 14-24mm wide-angle lens on this camera was a pretty amazing thing.  Testing its low light ability and ISO performance blew me away.  Coming from a Nikon D7000 where I couldn’t really shoot higher than ISO 2000 without noise, this camera will go up to ISO 6400 and still be crystal clear.  Dpreview.com just released a pretty detailed review that you can read here to learn more about the camera.  I will write up some detailed first impressions within the next week. 

As a side note, for the regular visitors who have blogs out there, I have been terrible about making the rounds and checking out your recent work, but I have been swamped lately.  I am looking forward to catching up this weekend!!  Thanks for all the visits and comments, I really appreciate them!

I wanted to share my first photo from the camera with you guys today.  Honestly, on the blog this looks just like some of my D7000 shots, but it really shines when you look at an 100% crop or view the full quality JPEG (for my blog, I usually scale everything down to 150dpi and 1500 pixels on the long edge).  I am still getting the hang of the D800′s sheer awesomeness (new “pro” functions, buttons in different places, capabilities, etc) and I will need to get a little more methodical with my technique (36.3mp does not leave much room for error), but I see tremendous promise from this little piece of machinery.  This is the sunset from an overlook in Monte di Procida, just minutes from my house in Bacoli, Italy.  Enjoy!    

Thanks for visiting!

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