New Bike, New Lens, and Lots of Lily Pads...

We traveled a LOT this past weekend! J.R. got a new motorcycle, a BMW K1200S.  It's a beauty, but it scares me when I think of him on it!  He assures me he will be careful.  These pictures were taken at 8:30 pm so I was working with very low lighting.  Please excuse the bad bokeh and slight discoloration:)

 

Our deal was that if he got a new bike, I got a new lens. I wanted something that lends itself more easily to up-close, portrait photography, and I kept coming back to the Nikon 50mm F/1.4D AF FS=52 Nikkor Lens in my research. I really wanted something that had a wider aperture. The reviews on it were mixed, and it is of course, more of a starter lens, but so far I am really enjoying it. I was working from a small budget too, so in terms of a less expensive lens, I am praying I made the right choice!

I made J.R. hold the camera while I pushed the shutter release (in one of my many attempts to get a decent picture of the two of us--he's so good to put up with me!) for this photo and you can see I am still learning the right settings for it. Even though we cut off my face and the aperture is wrong, I kind of like its composition. If you are or know a photographer and you are reading this, don't laugh at my attempts to incorporate my growing knowledge of the language...I am sure I am embarrassing myself, but you have to start somewhere. Someday I will know what I am talking about, I hope:).

A few more with the new lens...

J.R. had an incredibly generous coworker lend him his trailer to haul his new bike home.  We decided to make the two-hour drive to New Philadelphia, Ohio, to return the trailer before the end of the weekend. Aunt Sue from Utah is visiting this week, so the three of us hopped in the car and drove out there. On the way, we passed by a lake that had this incredible view of hundreds of lily pads. I requested that we stop on the way back so we could get a better look.