Yesterday my new camera arrived and I have been practising with it, taking first photos around The Holler. (Click to enlarge the bees to see the details).
It is getting detail and is super fast, but will require more practice.
I was planning to use the camera mostly for landscapes, so I was pleasantly surprised with these first-attempt macros.
You can see some of the detail capability in this Datura or Moonflower. Moonflowers are night-blooming and belong to the nightshade family. They are poisonous and are pollinated at night by Sphinx and Hawk Moths. Native Americans used Moonflowers in sacred ceremonies as a hallucinogen.
These Night Blooming Cereus flowers were taken with my older, trusty HX400, which is still my go to bird and wildlife camera. The flowers grow on the tallest cactus in the world, Cereus Peruvians. Ours is over 30 feet tall! It’s flowers are as big as plates and open only at night. The tree generates tons of fruit called Peruvian Apples that are crunchy, sweet, and delicious!
Cheers to you from Sony’s views~
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These are so beautiful. I love the Cereus. 🌼
Thank you. I love it too. It is like a dinosaur cactus!
These multi-colored flowers are awesome, Cindy!
They grow everywhere and people treat them like weeds, but I love them. So happy you do too Ranu ! <3
Great captures Cindy, congratulations on your new camera!
Thanks, I am just learning it’s new capabilities and quirks and so far I am impressed with it~
Great colors! Love new cameras ❤️
It is so much fun to play around with a new camera!
I need a new camera too! Hopefully soon. Looking forward to seeing more of your pictures 😊
Let me know what you decide to get!
Nice clear shots. Really long zoom range, and it has a 1″ sensor, which is a real plus for an all in one camera. You will have a lot of fun with your new RX 10.
I think so. I can’t meet the zoom of the 400, but it’s refinements are quite evident.
Reblogged this on Musings on Life & Experience and commented:
Some gorgeous photos from Cindy Knoke. She has a new camera.
Thank you Patricia. I wish I could take a portrait of you! <3
oh wow – how exciting to get a new baby!! These shots are marvellous as usual, Cindy – bravo and keep up the good work! cheers to you for a great weekend x
Back 2UX2 & <3 2!
Congratulations, Cindy. Great pictures for a start <3
It will be a very fun learning curve~
I know 🙂 Love that challenge too 🙂
🏵️ <3
Hopefully you can use some of your old lenses with the new body. Nice details in those shots.
One of the things I enjoy about the 400 is there is no need to change lens. The 400 zooms from 24mm -1200 and the 10 from 24-600!
These are fabulous Cindy, this is something my simple camera can not do. have fun!
Thank you. You and your simple camera do beautiful work. Now I have one somewhat expensive camera and one non-expensive one. Each has it’s own unique merits.
Proof that Sony and Cindy take great pictures! I grew up with film long ago, in an age when the name Sony was unknown to me, even for radios and television sets. I used many good cameras, now all gone, two favorites being (having been?) a Rolleiflex TLR and a simple 35 mm Canon QL 17. I think I got that model number right, both fixed lenses, single length.
I wasn’t taking photos then, but my family was. I was just watching and I remember the technology well.
Congrats, Cindy! Looks great. I really must get on with my plans for a new camera as well. My Nikon is too heavy – otherwise I love it.
It is nice to have two cameras that can do different things. I carry each with a shoulder strap so they are ready to shoot.
Sounds great – and so are the results!
Thank you sweet friend 🏵️
Great photos! And a new camera, always a fun time.
Indeed. A new camera gets you out and about with much enthusiasm!
These are beautiful Cindy, I love all the detail in the moonflower and Cereus flower images especially :o) xxx
Thanks much! I was really surprised by the details in the moonflower shot.
Looks like a great camera Cindy! But it still needs a photographer to make pictures does it 🙂 I like the green flowers an awful lot. Wonderful. They look like fruits themselves.
I find cactus flowers difficult to photograph when their coloring is subtle like these Cereus. I was photographing at night and that did the trick!
Very sharp and very fast… congrats on a fine new camera!
Thanks much. I am practising for our trip!
I want to ask where you’re going next – but it’s probably better to let you surprise us with your photos!
Only once, on our last trip, did I talk about where we going next, and a family emergency ensued compelling us to cancel, so now I am staying quiet which is what I usually should do anyway!!!
Looking good! <3
Sony with the Zeiss lens thrown in cannot really be bad 😉
I have a small brother of yours, the DSC RX100 – my "you-never-know" camera that's always with me, in the side pocket of my bag or in my pocket or hanging on to my belt. And though it looks a lot like a point-an'-shooter, it even does RAW with its 20MP. You really have to enlarge extensively to see the difference with the Nikon… So, happy hunting with your new 'toy' <3
It is smart of you to have such a compact camera you can carry around like, well……a compact! You are never without a camera. My first camera about five years ago when I started getting serious was a compact Sony. They make amazing cameras!
I was indeed amazed when I looked at the first photos I took with mine 🙂
Yes! I know the feeling, exactly!
😀
Brilliant shots, you must have bought a brilliant camera. <3
Grazie! Sony does make brilliant cameras and they are not paying me to say this, darn them! 😉
Cindy, first of all your photos are already brilliant, but now your new camera is just taking you to a whole new level. Awesome “practice shots! Have fun with your new camera and look forward to more jaw-dropping images!
I was happy to see the details of the hairs on the bee’s legs. I think some of the pixels are lost when WP posts them, but at least they can be seen. I’m going to take the camera to the Wild Animal Park and just shoot my head off! This should really help me get familiar fast.
Your images are, as always, a delight. I shared them with my husband who has a new (two-day-old) camera and he is in awe.
Thank you so much, both of you. What camera did your hubby get?
Those are incredible photos! The detail is outstanding. Nice to have a new camera, but beautiful pictures require a talented photographer… which you most definitely are.
Such a kind and thoughtful comment and so appreciated too! Thank you <3
Incredible photos, Cindy. Nature in all its glory 🙂
She is the best of the best <3
I thought I took some good pictures of bees but your pictures are outstanding – the colors and details!
We can thank Sony for putting the technology in our hands. Thank you too my friend & have an awesome weekend!
The moonflower is gorgeous!
I was so surprised with what the camera showed me, so thank you for noticing! <3
You’re welcome! 😊
🏵️
When my son gets here next week I’m going to show him your photos. I think I’ve mentioned them to him before. Those are so crisp and clear, even this blind woman can see the detail. Wow!
I am still a neophyte with the camera, but I do have some idea now what it is capable of and it is pretty exciting. It is just a question of the human catching up to the technology! Thank you for your very kind words & Happy Weekend!
‘Pleasantly surprised’!! Cindy, I hope that is your understatement, these are stunning; the moon flower could be part of a fantasty novel…wondrous. Congratulations on your new camera and Happy Clicking!!😃
Your very kind comment made me smile. Thank you so much Annika. It is so wonderful to share with thoughtful people like you! <3
Breath taken sharpness and quality! Awesome pictures!
Ahhhh, honored & humbled. Thank you Alexander and thank you Sony!
Cindy, for sure Sony is a good brand and its cameras are sophisticated, intelligent and have a lot of capabilities, but as many professionals said, the most important thing who is behind of the camera. You have a really sharp photographer eyes and flair. Looking forward to see your new projects.
Thank you. the respect is most definitely returned. I love blogging because I get access to talented photographers like you!
Thank you, Cindy!
🏵️ <3
Just when I thought your photos couldn’t be more amazing…
You are the sweetest friend <3
You are amazing. The photographs are so incredible. Absolutely stunning.
What I am is very lucky, to have amazing friends like you! <3
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Your photos are gorgeous no matter what camera you use, Cindy. The Moon Flowers are amazing, not only the photos but the whole “being” of them – straight out of a fantasy world. 🙂
I love moonflowers. They bloom at night which is when you can catch the most purple. They grow like weeds in patches and people hate them, but I love them. So glad you do too! 🏵️
I am so very very excited for you. But I’m even more excited for the rest of us who will be able to see the beauty that you see through the lens of your new camera. You continue to inspire me….
I am so lucky to have friends like you Rebecca. Hugs my friend <3 🏵️
Spectacular photos! <3
Merci beaucoup mon ami!
Really beautiful photos, Cindy 🙂
Thank you Irene & Happy Friday!
Cindy, it looks like you’re doing an outstanding job learning your new camera — best wishes for much success with it! I’ve seen moonflowers but had no idea they were used in sacred ceremonies. The ones I’ve seen are just kind of growing!
Yes, they just grow, with no care and no help, and if you leave them alone they will multiply which they have done and are growing all over The Holler! 🏵️
Beautiful photography!
Honored, thank you & cheers too!
Cindy these are breathtaking.
You just made me smile! Thank you for your kindness 🏵️
You’re welcome 🙂
All of them awesome, as always. I can’t tell a real difference between pics with the older camera verses your new one, but am sure it takes a more trained, experienced eye and photographer to tell the exact difference which you have. If you were wanting to sell or market your photos, enlarged and framed and advertised you would have a lot of customers, and make a handsome profit. 🙂
So considerate and kind of you Joyce, but then these words describe you. I appreciate the encouragement and the confidence. Hugs to you & happy Friday! <3
Hugs back to you. 🙂 Have a good weekend.
STUNNIING!!! You keep outdoing yourself!
Sphinx Moths…… echk. We had a Pandora Spinx Moth caterpillar in our yard. I looked it up to see what it would turn into. Yikes! Looks like the air force used its image to design stealth planes. Anyway, thanks for the tip that it is a night pollinator. There is no way I’m going out to the garden at night.
Although, if I had your beauteous night blooming flowers, I would probably venture out in a hazmat suit. LOL!
Cracking up! Scared of moths….. I know why, they might eat your dresses! Eeeeek! I had a sphinx moth and a ceonothus moth here, each as big as my hand. I took lots of photos! I am even used to black widows now, but I don’t like them, I got photos of a big one on a web in the guest room shower, and a couple nights ago I got photos of a really BIG scorpion, at least 5 inches. The Holler is Hellstrom Chronicle heaven (insect heaven).
LOL! (strained laughter) A moth as big as a hand, sounds like a job for a hardhat and safety goggles. A Black Widow in the guest room shower? Hmm, well that will cut back on visitors, or get rid of them altogether! 😀
Nope, laughing, people love The Holler and always say we should have a B & B, which there is no way I would ever do. We do bug reconnaissance before guests occupy the guest rooms though. I just read that 100 different species of bugs live in the “average” home, cluttered homes have more. I don’t like clutter, but homes with lots of windows and doors have more bugs. We have lots of windows and doors. Check out the article:
http://beta.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-bugs-in-homes-20160805-snap-story.html
Amazing! The bees look like they could fly right out of the photo.
I compared photos of bees taken with both cameras and the 10 got much more detail so it has lots of potential with lots of practice!
Absolutely lovely! Every one of them. ☺️
So kind and so appreciated! Cheers to you~ 🏵️
You too my friend. Just saw this. ❤️
<3 <3
Oh beautiful! I’m excited to see lots more photos with this new camera!
How lovely & how encouraging. I will aim to make that happen!!!
It must be a great camera, Cindy because you took some great photos. The detail is amazing.
Leslie
Yes much more detail, I am going to take it to the wild animal park and see what she can do! Thank you for the encouragement!
Can’t wait to see what you do next, Cindy.
Leslie
Amazing detail!
Is your new Sony camera a mirrorless one? The photographer at the archaeological camp I stayed at this summer had just purchased a mirrorless camera from Sony, and he was very happy with it.
No not mirrorless. I have to go with the ease of not changing lenses, both my cameras have built in zoom from 24 to 1200mm equivalent. This way I carry two cameras, one on each shoulder, each ready to adapt to every shooting condition. I lose the DSLR quality though, but gain not using a camera because the lenses are too much of a pain to lug around. Sony mirrorless with lenses are also very pricey especially when you factor in the lenses, but mirrorless cameras are incredible and I can see why your friend loved them.
Ah yes, I wondered how people find the money for all of the DSLR lenses. It always made more sense to me to have one camera with a wider zoom range…but I honestly know very little about cameras or photography. Do DSLRs typically produce better images than fixed-lens cameras?
I am no camera expert either. For me it comes down to ease of use and cost. I don’t want to be stuck behind a tripod or lug around super cumbersome lenses. The type of image people prefer is subjective, as it should be. I love DSLR and mirrorless images, but I am not a huge fan of hyper-artistic-realism that makes things look quite different than what they are. I don’t much like feathered water for instance, although I very much respect people who do. It is just up to individual preference.
Congratulations with your new camera. The pictures came out fantastic!
Thank you. I am still remembering your last shot, so truly beautiful! <3
Beautiful photos. But I think it’s more down to the photographer than the camera!
That is so lovely of you to say. Thank you! 🏵️
I’ve been wanting one, but undecided between it and the Canon 70D. Yours takes stunning photos!
I can’t advise you. My camera before the Sony’s was a Canon and I loved it. But I am now Sony loyal. Thankfully there are a lot of people who will do comparisons for you online to help you make your decision and it is a fun decision to make, so enjoy!
I found a good place online that rents equipment. I think I found my Spring fun project 🙂
Really, please post about it if it is legit. My daughter rents her formal wear, so why not!
It’s http://www.borrowlenses.com
Wow!!! Wonderful. Thank you~
Amazing macros – that datura is phenomenal. Of course you’d have a 30′ cereus – it must be heavenly when it blooms!
It is and it is odd looking the rest of the year, but The Holler is an odd place, you can tell by the people who choose to live here!!! 😉
What a treat for my eyes Cindy! It’s amazing how detailed the pictures are getting. The first two pictures…the shine in the bees eyes…you captured that! Amazing. Thank you!
Thank you for noticing. I need more practice, but the first shots were encouraging because they were picking up a lot more fine detail!
Breathtaking photos! Your pictures were beautiful before, but now… I can’t wait.
Awww, I love my blogging friends! <3 🏵️