Mr. Ant, Mr. Dragonfly, Mr. Frog and Ms. Flower

I knew spending time out in the field this week, North of Seoul, way North of Seoul, near the DMZ, would provide some opportunities for macro photography.There's never a shortage of bugs, gnats and assorted other creatures just waiting to crawl in your sleeping bag out there. I went well-prepared by including a nice macro lens in my camera bag; the Minolta 100mm f/2.8 macro lens. By all accounts a very fine macro lens, and you can see just why in the results below. Keep in mind, these are all hand held shots by an inexperienced macro photographer! Not too shaby.

I had gone out yesterday without a macro lens and managed to get a decent close up shot of a dragonfly, but today I wanted to see if I could top that. Fortunately for me, the wildlife seems to like me taking their photos. Hats off to Mr. Ant, Mr. Dragonfly (I wonder if he is the same one from yesterday?), Mr. Frog and Ms. Flower for posing so eloquently for my photos.

As captured by the Sony A77 with Minolta 100mm f/1.8 macro lens.

Playing in the Field - Sony A77

My unit went to the field this week for a live fire exercise, shooting rockets from the M270A1 Multiple Launch Rocket System.

Spotted a nice reflection opportunity as my friend PFC Lohrentz sat in his HUMVEE.

Stay tuned for more photos!

Turner Hunt in the Field

Here's a shot of my good friend and co-host at www.HeyDontShoot.com Turner Hunt. He sits in the hatch of his M270A1 MLRS Rocket Launcher during a recent live fire exercise in Korea, near the DMZ.

Camera: Sony A77

Lens: Minolta 28-80mm

f /4.5

ISO 250

EXP 1/100

New Camera Purchase (A Slight Upgrade)

I'm a frugal bastard, everyone knows that. But when it comes to my cameras, I believe in my logical reasons for not buying the top of the line, flagship models. In the case of Sony those would be the A99 and the A77. So when it came to upgrading from my current Sony A35, I went back and forth between upgrading to the similar A37 or going to an A65 or A77. I was really torn, but when I looked at price versus features, I had to stick with my so-called entry level professional DSLR or what Sony calls their SLT.

Why would a former professional photographer go with a so-called entry level DSLR and not something like the A77 or A99? I'll tell you why, first and foremost, I'm no longer a professional. I don't need to wow potential clients with my expensive gear and secondly, after shooting with the A35 for over a year now, I have to say, I am overwhelmingly impressed with the results. I am getting better quality images out of this awesome A35 than I did out of my top end Nikons that I shot with from 2004-2007.

Technology has come a long, long way. I remember the first good digital camera I shot with was 5 megapixels. Granted, the A99 and the A65 boast 24.3 megapixels, but the A35 and A37 hold their own as far as image quality at 16.7 megapixels. And that's more than enough for producing even large, print quality photos. Most of my content is still shot for publication on the web, so 16.7 mp is more than enough.

I'm also a believer in waiting for a year or so until after a new product is released to get it at a better price. So, eventually I'll upgrade to the A77 or A99 but for now there's no justifiable reason. I have 3 cameras for less than the price of one and that brings me to my final reason for going with the A37 as my latest purchase. I am allowed an amazing amount of creative flexibility because I can carry 2 cameras (now 3) in my bag. I can have each with a different set up, ready to capture any kind of action at a moments notice. I can have an assist on a second camera and the third camera shooting video, the options are almost limitless and that's because I can afford three, high-quality cameras for less that the price of one A77 or A99.

My next purchase will hopefully be one of my "dream" lenses, either the Sony Zeiss 18-70mm and/or the Sony SAL 70-400mm but I will probably wait to buy those when I also upgrade to either the A77 or the A99.

Anyway, I placed my order on eBay about an hour ago. Purchase price for a "New Other" mint condition Sony A37? $300 minus a $20 loyal customer discount from eBay, net cost $280. Not bad eh?