Major update
Here it is! The gigantic post summarizing all my work during December... If you have been checking out my deviantART and flickr profiles, you might already know some of those photos.Let's start with an amazing photo I was able to shoot on November 30. It was a beautiful sunny day with fresh powder snow.Exposure time1/400 sAperturef 10ISO speedISO 100Focal length18 mmExposure time1/250 sAperturef 8ISO speedISO 100Focal length18 mmNow some low/available light photos from the beginning of December. The hot glowing remains of fire wood in our tile stove and some tea lights.Exposure time1/30 sAperturef 5.6ISO speedISO 400Focal length70 mmExposure time1/5 sAperturef 5ISO speedISO 100Focal length28 mmA week after those two shots Nero once again decided to pose for me. Turned out pretty neat :-)Exposure time1/160 sAperturef 5.6ISO speedISO 400Focal length55 mmNow it's time again for some available light photos featuring Christmas lights in front of our houseExposure time2 sAperturef 5ISO speedISO 400Focal length30 mmExposure time3.2 sAperturef 5.6ISO speedISO 400Focal length55 mmThe next photo that sprout from this shooting was my alleyway covered in fresh snow with the tracks of some good friends' car in it ... I should definitely redo this setting because I noticed too late that the photo is sort of out of focus :-(But as you can see: We've got pretty much snow (although some of it melted right before Christmas)Exposure time3.2 sAperturef 3.5ISO speedISO 400Focal length18 mmExposure time1/160 sAperturef 8ISO speedISO 100Focal length70 mmNow here's a little experiment with my new Sigma 50 mm f 2.8 prime lens. Due to the Sony Vaio's intense power button light I had to set the shutter to the fastest available speed of the a200: 1/4000 of a second.Exposure time1/4000 sAperturef 2.8ISO speedISO 800Focal length50 mmSome more result of fooling around with the prime's incredibly wide aperture. Notice that picture #3 is the exact same orange of picture #2 but with a focusing distance of just 11.8 cm (that's 4.64 inch for all the imperial folks out there)! It shows the prime's mind blowing macro capability. Same goes for picture #4 and the really shallow depth of field of about 5 mm (0.2").Exposure time1/60 sAperturef 2.8ISO speedISO 400Focal length50 mmExposure time1/80 sAperturef 5.6ISO speedISO 400Focal length50 mmExposure time1/80 sAperturef 2.8ISO speedISO 400Focal length50 mmExposure time1/80 sAperturef 5.6ISO speedISO 400Focal length50 mmMore fooling around with the 50 mm and the braid in my mother's hair:Exposure time1/80 sAperturef 5.6ISO speedISO 400Focal length50 mmI'm so proud of this shot and I was completely surprised by it. Never in a million years would I have thought that I could achieve such a great photo with just using the wireless option of my flash gun and placing it left of the crystal glass.Exposure time1/80 sAperturef 5.6ISO speedISO 400Focal length50 mmThe same wine glass with the flash gun placed right behind it & my grandfather reenacting the famous Einstein photo ... more or lessExposure time1/80 sAperturef 5.6ISO speedISO 400Focal length50 mmExposure time1/250 sAperturef 5.6ISO speedISO 400Focal length50 mmParts of our advent wreath in extreme close-up:Exposure time1/250 sAperturef 2.8ISO speedISO 400Focal length50 mmHector, my mother's cat, posing for the camera:Exposure time1/125 sAperturef 4.5ISO speedISO 400Focal length50 mmAnd the last two shots are photos of Nero. Here you can also see the nice D.O.F. the Sigma provides. While the eyes are sharp as a razor, the nose, paws and body are already blurred.Exposure time1/80 sAperturef 2.8ISO speedISO 400Focal length50 mmExposure time1/80 sAperturef 2.8ISO speedISO 400Focal length50 mmThat's it for today, maybe even this year. So if we don't meet again in 2010 I wish you a happy new year!Stay tuned because more WILL follow (sooner or later) and tell your friends.