I'm Baaaack!

Did you miss me? I missed you...

Nikon update
I got my D600 back from Nikon. They kept it about 10 days. I have to admit that I haven't shot with it yet, though. Just a couple of test shots, but I need to reset all my presets (they dumped them. I should have saved them but I forgot to). A couple of notes:

• Nikon messed up and SHIPPED my camera back to me, even though they knew I was making a special trip to pick it up. I was not happy because I was going to miss a weekend of shooting until I got home. They made me happy when they handed me a demo D600 to use and ship back to them when I got mine.
• The demo D600 had at least one big fat dust spot on the sensor...
• They shipped by Purolator (for you non-Canadians, that's sort of like saying they shipped by FedEx. Sort of). Here's the problem: I have an arrangement with Purolator that if I'm not home, they'll leave packages on my deck for me, providing a signature wasn't requested, instead of taking it back to the depot and leaving me a card. I use that all the time for my low-value First Aid kit shipments. Nikon did NOT request a signature for my $2000 camera. So Purolator just left it there. For 3 days, by the way. Here's the catch: if it had been stolen, I would never have been able to claim for it, because they have a signed "Signature not Required" agreement. How can Nikon ship a $2000 camera and NOT request a signature at the other end? I have a call in to them to ask that question.
• Now the burning question: what did they do to my D600? The invoice says they cleaned the low-pass filter (sensor) AND THEY REPLACED THE SHUTTER MECHANISM! Was that related to the dust issue? Who knows. My advice to anyone with a D600/dust problem? Send it in to Nikon.

While I was there, I bought a refurbished S6000 point-and-shoot camera. How could I not, for $65? Now when I teach new shooters, I have a frame of reference to what they're used to. I also have another reason, but I'll share that with you when the time comes.

The point-and-shoot's pretty good. Here:

Tulips. Painted with the Oil Paint filter in CS6. 1/10 sec at f/3.5, ISO 400, F=28mm in FX equivalence. Vertical crop. The little camera's got built-in VR, believe it or not! Colour me impressed.

Here's another shot, through the car window while I was waiting for Rosa outside the flower shop. The magenta reflection at lower right is from the window. Oil painted again, a little bit of Photoshop tweaking. 

Rosa took this shot with the P&S inside a gallery in the Distillery District.
One day when I grow up, maybe I'll be able to see light like she can! 

Here's another one of Rosa's. This has more potential than you see here,
I can't get my head around the post-processing. 

I took a few pictures with the borrowed D600 and my 17-35mm lens. 

You know how you're not supposed to take pictures in a public washroom? My bad...
3-shot HDR, toned in Topaz Adjust.

This shot was in a gallery in the Distillery District. Incredible use of open space. They weren't too happy with me taking pictures in there, even after I explained I wasn't shooting the artwork, I was shooting the architecture.
Same thing; 3-shot HDR processed with HDR Efex Pro and finished in Topaz and Lightroom.  

My least favourite time of year

It's pretty ugly out there, the snow is melting and brown, it's grey and snowing or raining lightly, pretty dull. I hope it picks up soon. The ice fishermen are taking their lives in their hands, with the surface melting... I'm not going out there again!

This is at Miner's Bay, about 25 km south of me. The slushy surface of those plowed ice roads
don't look too safe to me!

Oh well, back in business. I heard a rumour that there are some bald eagles roosting on Horseshoe Lake, feasting on duck, so if the weather picks up, I might venture out to see what's what. 

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