Ok, so neither of these cameras is new. They are both decidedly old news at this point. However, the D700 is new to me and even 2 years after release, it is a killer camera (maybe that is why Nikon hasn’t replaced it yet). Inspired by “Crazy Comparison Day” at stevehuffphoto.com, I decided to do a slightly less insane comparison. I’ve owned the D5000 for about a year. It is my first DSLR and really the first land camera I’ve ever used seriously. I’ve run it through about 70K exposures at this point in a variety of situations. Before the nitty gritty, I just want to say, this little camera is great. It is tough and has all the basic options to take great pictures without cramping your style. You get all that in a body that is tiny and very light. You can’t beat it for carry-ability or for compactness. Now, for its (the featherweight) fight with the D700 (the heavy weight)…

Photographs taken on a recent evening jaunt through the mosquito zone of Brazos Bend State Park south of Houston.

All great blue herons are named George.

Kim LaBruzza and Greg Salicki got married this past Saturday just southwest of Austin and I was lucky enough to be one of their photographers. Their theme was Hollywood glamor.

Waiting at the Alter

Giving Away the Bride

The Toast

The Toast

That's What She Said

I don’t normally go for HDR images, but I decided to give it a shot and here are some of the results.

A colony of banana spiders (Nephila clavipes) like to build their webs across the path leading around 40 acre lake at Brazos Bend State Park. One of them was kind enough to be hanging out at eye level, which made getting macro shots of her relatively easy, that is if you don’t mind having a two inch spider six inches from your face (which I don’t).

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Fun Facts:

• The banana’s spider’s official common name is “golden silk orb-weavers”
• A banana spider’s bite is essentially harmless. It is no worse than a wasp sting.
• Female banana spiders sometimes but not always eat their mates.
• Female banana spiders can reach 2 inches across.
• Males are considerably smaller than female, reaching only 1″ and are brown, not yellow.
• Banana spiders like to build their webs across open spaces, such as walk ways.
• Their webs generally span space 6 feet or more across.