Nikon Showcase Maine and Family with the DF

I haven't been shooting much lately, thus haven't been around here much lately. But my wife and I spent a week in Maine over the holiday, renting an Air B&B house on a lake ("pond" in Maine parlance) and having a nice Thanksgiving with our harried first year medical resident daughter and her boyfriend. They live in a very tiny house near Augusta, so the larger place we rented (with an AMAZING kitchen!) was a great break for them as well as a nice change of scenery for us.

Seems I shot the overwhelming majority of everything with the Nikon 24-120 f4 and the Zeiss 21mm f2.8. The part that continues to surprise me is the utility of the 24-120 as a primary family / portrait lens. I had the 58mm f1.4G and the 105 f2.0 DC lens along and I used them both, but almost all of my family keepers came from the 24-120. The 58 and 105 are amazing and wonderful lenses, but the ability to find just the right framing with the 24-120 just seems to make it the lens that I get more keepers from. For sure I wish it was a stop or two faster and I wish the bokeh was as creamy as with the 58 and 105, but f4 tends to be good enough in available light with the DF sensor, particularly with the VR in the 24-120, and it's a lens that just works. As much as I love the 58 and 105, I have more money in them than is justified given how little use they get and how few keepers I get with them, relatively speaking. I may sell them and just keep the 85 f1.8D along with the 24-120 for those lower light situations where I just have to have a faster AF lens. And I've got other very good options at both 58 and 105 when manual focus will do.

Anyway, here are a few family candids - the first with the 105 f2 and the rest with the 24-120. And then a few scenic shots with both the 24-120 and the Zeiss 21...

Maine Thanksgiving-208-Edit by Ray, on Flickr

Maine Thanksgiving-57-Edit by Ray, on Flickr

Maine Thanksgiving-76-Edit by Ray, on Flickr

Maine Thanksgiving-89-Edit by Ray, on Flickr

Maine Thanksgiving-2-Edit by Ray, on Flickr

Maine Thanksgiving-148-Edit by Ray, on Flickr

Maine Thanksgiving-139-Edit by Ray, on Flickr

Maine Thanksgiving-234-Edit by Ray, on Flickr

Maine Thanksgiving-232-Edit by Ray, on Flickr

Maine Thanksgiving-212-Edit by Ray, on Flickr

-Ray

Charming

Fabulous. I see your point about that lens, but the photographer surely has a smidgen to do with the high quality images

kyteflyer said:

Fabulous. I see your point about that lens, but the photographer surely has a smidgen to do with the high quality images

Click to expand...

Thanks Sue, but, you know, same idiot or same genius taking the shot... If I had the perfect shot set up with the 58 or 105 and then tried to recreate it with the 24-120, the 58 or 105 would look somewhat better. But for all of the imperfect shots that require a bit of improvisation, the zoom just gets me there well enough more often. I'm a prime shooter for most types of shooting, but for this kind of family candid stuff, the zoom just works better for me more often...

-Ray

That is a gorgeous pond indeed.

Very nice family shots. Nice to see your work again.

Again you prove that the best tool, isn't always the best for the current chore. Really nice work. Makes me want to visit there.
Many years ago, I bought the 85mm f1.8 along with the Nikon N8008 camera. Was the only lens we had. My daughter and I used that combination for nearly 20 years. It was a great film rig. Still miss it.

I have the Canon 24-105 IS and like you, find myself grabbing it because of how versatile it is in a lot of situations. Lovely relaxing family photos, natural expressions, and the scenic depicts the season really well. Glad you had some great family time.

The theme from a number of people here -- about zooms like the 24-120 being "good enough" to get great keepers while still not being quite as good as the proper prime -- is one that keeps being repeated these days in my own personal experience and among others I know.

And, here's the thing: I find myself opting for convenience almost every time. It seems an aperture of f/4 is enough for me (even with smaller formats like micro four thirds) unless we're talking about really low light. I'm using fewer lenses these days as a result.

One final word: Years from now, when members of Ray's family look back at some of the images he captured in Maine over the Thanksgiving weekend, no one will be talking about whether the depth of field could have been a bit shallower or the colors and/or rendering could have been a bit better with his 58 or 105mm prime. It'll be the subject at hand and the overall creativity and excellence that Ray brings to virtually everything he shoots.

We should all keep this in mind as we go about our own photographic missions. Happy Holidays!

Love all those portraits Ray, definitely my kind of people shots Maine doesn't look too bad either

Lovely set of images. Well done!

Tony