Naughty …. and Nice

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Posted on 30th December 2009 by Tara in Diary Entries

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I have been a good girl – this year.  I have!  Honestly.

And in all reality, 2009 was also pretty good to me.

All things considered.  A recession.  Changing jobs.  That kind of thing.

So I rewarded myself with a lovely trip to the Greytown Cottage and Christmas with my Mommy.
Rewarded myself … and punished my liver.

It was a lovely week in Greytown.
Some sun, yummy food prepared by Mommy, loads of Pimms and Gin, some Petanque and golf putting challenges on the lawn at my Godmothers.  Hope I am invited back after I beat them all at both!

Sarah came up for a night before I was due to head back to Auckland – via Wellington.
Mommy’s poor patio plants.  They will never be the same again!

Photo’s from all three cameras to follow
(yes 3! Nikon, Sea&Sea in case we need video and iPhone for on-the-go reporting)

Nifty New Nikon – Now!

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Posted on 24th December 2009 by Tara in Diary Entries | Photography

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I’m really not happy with my Nikon – my trusty D80.

It seems somewhere between Auckland and London, unbeknown to me, an accident of some type has occured.
I got to England and on the day of my brothers wedding, I discovered that my 18-135mm lens was broken.  No, not broken, smashed! Smashed to pieces.  And I cried – quite a bit in fact.
Travel insurance said that I dropped it.  And if I wanted my Nikon D80 looked at for a damage report, then it was going to cost me $180.00.  I hate you Southern Cross Travel Insurance – you wankers.

Mom told me to work with what I had.
So the rather noisy, but okay for portraits, Tamron 55-200 came out of retirement and I have been using that while I decide what to do next.

And I am nearly there.Birds and candles outside at the Greytown Cottage
With the amazing Nikon D300 available for around $2900, I am hoping that our dollar will improve just a little more and this price will drop.  However the newly released D300s (with HD video) at $3500 …. well its just a little more isn’t it?
Wonder how the Bank of Mommy would feel if I presented another withdrawal slip.  It would probably slam its doors shut in my face – forever.

This Christmas I will be using the D80 and the 55-200 as much as possible.
To see what I can really do with it.
It is a bit of a challenge but then again, I think its a good exercise to test my composition and my very amateur skills.

Or maybe, I’ll just get a new lens.

Wordpress on iPhone

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Posted on 23rd December 2009 by Tara in Diary Entries

Looking back at how many updates I have made (or have not made) recently, well I’ve either been boring, busy or just lazy.

Well I know I have been busy – just not blogging.

I downloaded the Wordpress for iPhone application from the iTunes store – free, get yours now – and am going to give it a go in the vain hope that with a new theme and some on the go editing, the number of posts will again rise.