photovent 2010, day 16: light (and day 1 of the nikon d700 tour of galveston)

"We are each gifted in a unique and important way.  It is our privilege and our adventure to discover our own special light."

~ Mary Dunbar

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When I received that awesome Nikon D700 and the 16-35mm lens on loan from Nikon, the only person more excited about it than me was Marcus.  "We should totally take it out for a spin," he said on Saturday.  "How about we get up and drive to Galveston tomorrow, so you can take photos of the sunrise?"

Well.  While I loved the idea of a quick roadtrip to Galveston, after the intense weeks I've had lately, there was no way I was getting up pre-dawn.  So I managed to talk Marcus into dialing down the crazy, and instead, at about 8:30 a.m. we headed south.

It had been quite some time since I'd been to Galveston.  Although Marcus and Alex have been a couple of times, I hadn't been back since we moved from Trinidad in 2007 (and certainly hadn't been back since Hurricane Ike flattened the joint back in 2008).  I'm actually sort of embarrassed by this fact:  although I'm not a big fan of Galveston's beaches (more on that later this week), I love the little town, and have always felt that Galveston never gets the respect it deserves. 

Bonus: Galveston was a great subject for me to try shooting with a wide-angle lens, something I rarely do.

So this week, I thought I'd share the shots I took on our little road trip.  We started by going down to the seawall, and catching some of the morning light on the water:

It was really cold (as evidenced by the fisherwoman in the parka, below), but really lovely.

 Yeah. I love Galveston.

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The image at the top of this post is the 16th image of Photovent 2010.  You can download the pdf for it here.  And click here to learn how to use it to assemble a beautifully different photo garland.  The remaining images of the seawall of Galveston were shot with the Nikon D700 and the 16-35mm zoom lens lent to me.  And Lordy, how I'm loving them.  It's amazing how much this wide-angle is able to capture.  And the D700?  Highly sharp.  More soon.

Song:  Dirty Harry (Schtung Chinese New Year remix) by Gorillaz