Moonlight Photography: January Winter Moon

Some photography of the full moon as it looked rather nice in the evening.  It also gave me a chance to try to use the Nikon J1 to take photos.  It was a little harder to get a nice photo than with my standard DSLR (Nikon D5100) but it only took a little fiddling with the settings and menu.

Enjoy:

Bella Popcorn Maker

I may have once stated: "All I need is a popcorn machine and I could watch movies in my room indefinitely."  Food/bathroom/shower breaks not withstanding, I stand behind my quote.

Kudos to one of my close friends for remembering such nonsense that spewed from my mouth and getting me a fun christmas gift.

With the improvement of home theaters equipment and/or the growth of entertainment on an hdtv/computer monitor/laptop screen, more and more people are enjoying some form of video entertainment at home.  To better replicate the movie going experience, popcorn is almost a necessity.

On that note, meet the Bella Popcorn Maker:

Consider it for all the movie afficiandos in your life or use it for entetaining you friends who have a complex against microwave popcorn.  Disclaimer: I enjoy microwave popcorn as much as the next person.

Now I just have to go buy some non microwave popcorn to test it out. 


Thanks to my friends for the fun gift.

Nikon J1 10-30mm Kit Lens Test Photos

In an attempt to be a little more technical, I'm going to be putting the Nikon J1 through a slightly more thorough user test. 

Now that I have played with the Nikon D5100 for a few months and done a little homework, I am better able to judge competancies and end results of cameras and photographs (by no means on a pro level, more as a hobby)

I have no qualms carrying my DSLR with me at all times, but I can definitely see the perks of having a smaller decently high quality camera as well.  I'm aware I'm a little behind the times but with the price point of the J1 and V1 dropping down to about 300 dollars with a kit lens for a savy shopper, it might be time to re-evaulate Nikon's 1 series of cameras.

So far:

Pros: light weight, extremely speedy auto focus, super easy for a point and shoot user to pick up and use.

Cons: manual adjustments require using a clunky interface, smaller sensor, limited lenses (but that is improving)

Note: for any of you lens/physics afficianados out there.  The Nikon 1 uses a compact mirror-less sensor system (10.1 Megapixel CX format CMOS sensor) The Nikon 1 CX sensor yields a 2.7x field of view magnification factor.  A 10mm lens on the Nikon 1 is equivalent to a 27mm field of view on a standard camera.

The included kit lens is a Nikon 1 Nikkor 10-30mm/f3.5-5.6 VR Zoom
This yields approximately an equivalent 27mm - 80mm lens on a standard camera.

First sample image: Flowers on my Kitchen Table

1/30 F4 ISO 3200 14.5mm on a Nikon J1 10-30mm Kit Lens



 

Nikon 1 Lenses

I've started giving my Nikon 1 another go.  As much as I love my DSLR (Nikon D5100) there is a nice convenience of having a small camera that takes almost DSLR quality images.  The reason I used to bring out the D5100 was for low light photography.  Most of my photographic interaction is with my friends when we're eating, dining, drinking/bar hopping, out on the town.  This normally requires a low light lens.  My latest lens is a Nikkor 1 18.5mm f/1.8 lens.

Figs Restaurant (Fairmount, PA)

Figs Restaurant (Fairmount, PA) Brunch

2501 Meredith Street,
Philadelphia, PA 19130
PH:  215.978.8440
Fax: 215.978.8497
http://www.figsrestaurant.com/

Brunch at Figs is always delicious.  The problem is deciding what to order.  This time around moroccan eggs, BLT croisant with hollandaise sauce, salmon omelet, and the quiche were tried.

Misconduct Tavern

Misconduct Tavern
1511 Locust Street
Philadelphia, PA 19102
http://www.misconduct-tavern.com/

Misconduct is one of those bars that I always walk by but never go into.  We tried to go to Fado but the line was too long and ended up in Misconduct. Initially we thought about leaving as it was very crowded but once we got a table it ended up being pretty fun.  There is a decent beer selection and you can get an 8 dollar flight of four 4oz beers.

Square Peg (Center City, Philadelphia PA)

Square Peg
929 Walnut Street
Philadelphia, PA 19107
http://www.squarepegrestaurant.com/

I visited Square Peg on a Saturday night with a large party.  Initially we were a party of 9 but by the time we actually arrived at the restaurant the party was 12.  They still accommodated us with a table and we partook in food and drink.

Overall the cocktails were good and most of the food was decent.  Some of my party said that a few of their dishes were a tad generic but nothing was bad or unpleasant to eat.  My onion rings were under seasoned in my opinion but thats my only critique.

The patte was pretty good and the grilled cheese with mac and cheese with tomato soup was popular among my dining party.  It was well received.  Lastly the tater tots were enjoyed by my friends as well and had favorable reviews.

Both egg white cocktails were very good.  I recommend the Almost Sunny in Philadelphia.

Taco Night (Grad school reunion)

Taco Night occurred this weekend.  It was a reunion of graduate school friends with a few coming in from out of town.  Food and alcohol were involved.  Sometimes its nice to have a home cooked meal with friends.  Nothing crazy cookingwise but its always fun and delicious.

Perch Pub (Center City, Philadelphia, PA)

Perch Pub (Center City, Philadelphia, PA)
1345 Locust Street

I swung by Perch Pub for cocktails to wrap up a Friday evening.  Cocktails are decent and similar priced to the rest of Center City.

One of the cocktails I tried was the Mummer.  It had a Yuengling beer base and was a bit sour but was surprisingly enjoyable.