Rainy Day Landscapes & Sunstars

 The weather has been really nasty today. It was dark, rainy and very cold. Then, out of nowhere, it cleared up and the sun started shining. I love nothing more than when the sun shines right after raining, especially in the evening hours. Since I had my Tokina near by, I took it outside to try and capture some decent shots of the yard and the way the sun casted such beautiful shadows. 

The execution wasn't as I expected, but they turned out nicely. I really should have edited them in Lightroom, but that's just too much work, lol.

Here are the pics from early today:

PS: Today is my little brothers 27th birthday! Like excuse me, it seems like he was just 12 last year. :(

This is the yard just before the sun popped out.

Our yard after the rain. I also managed a sunstar.

Smaller sunstar.

I couldn't up the aperture too much for the sunstar because it darkened the foreground too much.

The lighting was still beautiful. I love the Tokina lens.

This would've looked even better in the fall.

This is a great representation of how hilly and uneven our yard it.

Last landscape photo of the yard with a sunstar for the win!

Forgotten Photos

 I completely forgot that I took some photos with my Nikon Friday. I guess cause of all the chaos of the week, not to mention working in Perryville over the weekend. It's rare that I ever go out and take photos this time of year due to the cold and there being nothing to photograph. I mean, there are loads of things to photograph, but it's too repetitive.

I not only used my 105mm lens, but my Tokina as well. I don't always keep my Tokina attached, but I keep it close by at all times. We're on the brink of Milky Way season and I don't want to miss anything, lol. 

Anyways, here are the pics that I took last Friday:

Landscape view of the yard.

The tree on the right is so beautiful in the spring and fall.

Always trying to capture sun stars whenever I can.

Found a nice dead twig.

Max pretending he's an orphan.

I honestly don't know why he lays in this rickety old dog house sometimes. He loves to hide in here when it's storming, as opposed to being in the house where he lives.

More puffball weeds.

I really don't know what these weeds are called.

But they're cute.

And photogenic.

Last pompom in the sun.

I do love these pine trees on the other side of the fence. This isn't the best picture I've taken of them, but it's still nice.

Idk why this dog is so cute and so mean looking at the same time.

It's a big, 120lb ball of love.

Mid-January Snow Storm

As I'm sure most of the Midwest knows this by now, but a considerable snow storm ripped through Southeast Missouri last night leaving thousands without power - including us. Thank God that it's back on today, but it has flashed off a couple times leaving me with lingering anxiety that it's going to go off again. There are still people close to us that have no power, so we're one of the lucky ones, which I'm undeniably thankful for. 

I documented most of the snowfall on my phone, which I'll share Friday, but I did take my camera and wide-angle Tokina lens to the front door to try and capture a better photo of just how much snow was hanging on the trees. It was a very dense, heavy snow which is why there were so many power outages last night. I'm just thankful ours is back on and pray to God that it stays that way.

Here are some pics of the heavy snowfall on the trees:

See how immensely heavy the snow was on the trees?

The snow covered weeping willow looks haunting.

Not gonna lie, all of the trees look kind of spooky covered in snow.

Last snow covered tree photo. I'm in love with how well the Tokina does in low lighting.

Taking Christmas Photos With Different Lenses

I was bored today and longing for Christmas decoration photos and even though it was still a smidge too light outside, I went for it. I'm in the process of trying to find my favorite lens for taking ornament pictures, but I'm struggling. Since the 105mm lens rarely leaves my camera, I just assumed it would be the best, but I don't think it is. 

I used my 40mm macro last year for most of the photos, which is one of my faves, but I honestly don't think I've touch it since I got the 105mm. I think I'm gonna dust it off next week and see how it looks on the 750. I've already used my 35mm a couple times this week and I'm honestly still so impressed with that lens. I'm kicking myself for not using it today, but hopefully next week sometime.

I'd also like to add that we were able to get tires on the car yesterday and thankfully made it Poplar Bluff to Christmas shop. It wasn't the best, but we did get a few things. The most exciting part was getting to try the new Beyond Chicken from Panda Express!

Anyways, here are some pics with a few different lenses, enjoy!

Tokina 11-20mm 2.8 lens:

Love the wide angle lens for getting pictures of the entire room.

It's kinda trippy.

It would be so much better if it was dark outside.

See, the effect isn't the same.

The tree is still beautiful, but it's too light outside.

New Rudolph ornament.

Last one with the Tokina.

Nikon 105mm 2.8 lens:

The 105mm has great depth.

But I don't think it's aperture is wide enough for the look I want.

High ISO Santa.

I like the warmth of this picture.

Nikon 85mm 1.8 lens:

The 85mm lens is so smooth!

And so crisp.

You can't hardly beat this lens.

The only downside is the ratio. It's around 1:7 and you need a 1:1 for good ornament pics.

Great present pictures with the 85mm lens.

This is one of my favorite ornament pictures. I feel it captures vintage Christmas.

The ornaments that I painted.

I think they look nice.

Back to the Tokina for s minute:

Waited a couple hours and took some more of the tree.

See how much better the Christmas tree lights look when it's dark outside?

I tried some high ISO settings here and thing they make for some vintage Christmas tree photos.

Something about this Christmas tree takes me back to the early to mid 90s.

These pics would've been better if the lights around the door were on, oh well.