First Outing with D7000

Hi,

This morning I went to the Taman Seribu Bunga (Garden of A Thousand Flower) here in Melaka to seriously test upon my newly obtained D7000, pairing it with the new AF-S VR Micro Nikkor 105mm f2.8G IF-ED and the Nikon Close Up Speedlight Commander Kit R1C1. My aim was on macro photography and to shoot mainly on flower.

I went out a bit late as it was cloudy and drizzling started early in the morning up to 830am. I drove to Taman Seribu Bunga which is situated somewhere near Ayer Keroh at 915am. I had made a quick stopped at Mydin Hypermarket looking for CR123A battery as to spare it from the R1C1 system. I do not want battery exhausting issue will jeopardize my shooting as the CR123A battery is not easy to find.

When I reached the Taman Seribu Bunga, I can't see much people / visitors around. I can parked my car easily. The place was quite empty and very peaceful. I only can see a few visitors which I counted lesser than 20-30 people.

Sadly, I did not find any unique or interesting flower to shoot although the name of this place is Garden of A Thousand Flower. Yes, I can say that they do have a thousand flower but all are flowers that can be found commonly on the roadside and at home. I think they should try to get and planting some unique / uncommon flower to ensure it suits with the name of the place. But one thing that I did noticed is that the place do offer good landscape layout both soft scape and hard scape. Its a perfect place to shoot portraiture and a very potential spot for outdoor wedding photography.

I can't find much insects either as I think this garden is well taken care of and pesticide usage is on schedule basis unable some species of insect to live here. So, between common flower and common insect, which one that I shoot more? Of course the common insect such as dragonfly and bees.

Below are some photographs taken this morning at Taman Seribu Bunga, Melaka.

#1

The one and only flower that I think is unique for me to photograph it.

#2

A type of fungi found here at Taman Seribu Bunga

#3

A bee at work

#4

A species of bee also at work

#5

A Variegated Green Skimmer

#6

A Common Scarlet

#7

A species of Damselfly

#8

A Crimson Dropwing posed himself on a small branch with superb background

And I also took this opportunity to shoot a video of a Common Scarlet. Still on learning mode on this video thing. :)

After this first initial outing to test my new setup, I feel very comfortable in using the D7000. On video mode, we can hear the sound of focusing as I guess that the audio recording mechanism must be build near the lens. And auto focusing on video mode still a trouble for me. How about the photography features and function? I love it very much !