Wedding vessel

© Mark M. Hancock / DFWmark.com

Fayrouz and Mark's wedding vessel rests on a coffee table in Plano on Thursday, June 26, 2008.

This is the first test image with my new Nikon D300. It's late now, so I must mouth the word "Wow" silently.

It's difficult.

I guess I should point out this image is hand-held at 1/30th on 200 ISO. I had it set for .jpg fine with a large file size. When I opened it in Photoshop, I expected it to be about five megapixels (MPs). It was 34.9MP. Say it silently with me, "Wow!"

I'm breaking my own rule and using the camera without reading the phonebook-sized manual three times. I read the quick-start manual twice though. All the functions are instinctual, so I'll be fine for a shoot tomorrow. I can read the mega-manual between shoots this month to learn the newest functions.

I honestly haven't been this excited about a camera since I got the first N90 to arrive in Texas. To my disappointment, it couldn't perform multiple exposures like my FM... but this camera can.

The D300 also has a dust cleaning system, so I'll be able to shoot at f/32 again. I haven't shot with maximum depth of field in years.

The biggest relief with this camera is that I'm completely back in business. I've only been working newspaper gigs this month with my Nikon D1Hs because I didn't have the MPs for magazine or commercial gigs.

Now, I have a high-end camera and beefed-up laptop with wireless broadband. I'm back to a point where I can literally shoot and transmit high-res, toned and captioned images from any location in less than an hour.

My wife and sister have employed several saints to work on my behalf. They have St. Joseph working to help earn income (he was a hard-working, honorable guy, so I like him a lot). St. Patrick is standing on the router to bring luck (I've got a few issues with him). St. Anthony is working to "find" gigs. St. Jude is new to me and working the hardest. He's in charge of finding hope.

Since everything is in place now, I hope I'm lucky enough to find more income.

BTW, I'll be able to start posting June images fairly soon as the embargoes finish. While I could be busier, I haven't exactly been sittin' around the house sippin' lattes.

Enough for now,