I am typically, or well, relatively, up to speed on the latest and greatest gadgets out.  But sometimes, especially when it comes to photography equipment, it’s sometimes hard to always keep up, as one’s budget usually does not allow one to have the latest and greatest.

My existing Canon Rebel XT has been through over 75,000 shutter actuations with me and mostly with an EF-S 17-85 f/4-5.6 zoom lens, over a span of about 4 1/2 years and recently, a two month excursion across 5 Asian countries.  98% of the photographs in my portfolio are with that camera body/lens combination.

With some gentle encouragement from past instructors and peers, of late, I’ve decided to see what else is out there and one of those items has been the new Canon 7D.  I won’t bore you with the specs, as you can easily find them at much more thorough sites.  But over the course the past two days with a rented unit, it has not disappointed.

Today was the first chance I’ve had to take the 7D outdoors and did it around evening, through just right after sunset.

Not only did I get to shoot today, but I was able to teach/share/talk photography with my friend who came along with me.  I love giving a tip and seeing the ‘w-o-w!’ moment occur when they apply what they just learned and see their own vision come to life when they see their own photograph on their own camera on their own screen.

Here are some of my shots with the 7D.  Enjoy~!

Between the 8 fps and the AI Servo AF tracking on the 7D and lens IS set to panning mode, shots like these are much easier:

I’m finding that I’m looking for more shadows/reflections, of late:

Another shot, but with more of the lamps and landscaped

Recently, I saw photographs from my friends who traveled to Asheville, NC this past weekend to capture some stunning and colorful images of the leaves changing colors up in the mountains.  I had already had something scheduled for the weekend, so I wasn’t able to join them and felt that I’d have to wait until next year.

That was until today happened: with the rain gone from yesterday and the sun being out, I had to travel the distance from my front door to the sidewalk to capture a few images of the leaves.  This marks the first time in 4 years that I’ve been able to actually experience a ‘fall’, as there really aren’t too many seasons in California, especially SoCal.

I always believed that you could always find beauty in your everyday routine if we stop and pause for a moment, even for 1/60 of a second.    Hope you agree!

I always enjoy reading and talking about photography related gear.  Every now and then, I get to see first hand some out-of-my-budget gear via friends.

A classmate of mine got her hands on the Canon EF f/1.2 L 50mm USM lens for a few weeks and it produces some great images.

Not wanting to take the joy of the lens away from her, I didn’t use it, but used my Canon EF f/1.8 85mm USM to take these shots around the house and on the way/at Piedmont Park.

With a Gary Fong tupperware/Lightsphere diffuser

Below is a shot I took this past weekend for class, that was brought in solely as a backup image for this week’s assignment, environmental portraits.

Turns out it was better than I had thought and the instructor asked to keep the image to show for future classes.  Guess I should bring in more backups!

Read more about environmental portraits here. Thanks SK for the link!