Wonderful warm light and long, dramatic shadows just after sunrise today on the dunes of Nags Head, North Carolina.I got this lens as a portrait lens, to shoot wide open, but am also really enjoying it for landscape and nature shots like this. It's definitely my best lens so far, and I'm finding it hard to take it off the camera; I keep roaming around looking for a shot that will fit the lensClick on "original size" to see a larger version.Ray My blog:http://www.rritchie.com/wordpress

HEY! Keep off the dunes....don't you know how difficult it is to keep a good barrier 'tween the Atlantic and catastrophe?

LOL - I was actually standing on a set of stairs when I shot that one! I've been walking around these dunes almost every year for more than 50 years, so I do learn eventuallyBTW, Wanchese - we used to eat at a restaurant in your namesake town, looking out right over the waterfront, in sight of the fishing boats. Can't remember the name of it. Do you know it, and whether it's still there?

Sorry to be redundant, but I just realized that the photo I originally posted was in ProPhoto color space, and may not display properly on some browsers. So, for the sake of those without color-aware browsers, here's the sRGB version:Ray My blog:http://www.rritchie.com/wordpress

10-4 that Ray...I just couldn't resist a little OBX smack talkin'! That restaurant is called Fisherman's Wharf. It is located on the docks above the fish house where I made my first dollar back in 1970, and where I tied up after my last stint on a scallop trawler in 1978. Even got down and dirty in the restaurant parking lot with the deck boss who, while out to sea, had admitted to messin' with my girl. Can't settle such matters at sea, you know.Fisherman's Wharf was (is?) owned by the Daniels family, who founded Wanchese Seafood which has grown into a global fishing conglomerate.

By the way, when I saw the title of your post I opened the thread half expecting to see Jockey's Ridge. I am in the market for a D800 and have been debating one of the Nikon's 85mm options.

Thanks for the reply and the restaurant info. I've climbed Jockeys Ridge many times, since the mid-1950's when my family first put up a small cottage in Nags Head, adjacent to what is now Jockeys Ridge State Park. I'll have some D800 shots of that area eventually.I've had my D800 for about 8 months now, and have thoroughly enjoyed it. What the heck - it's only my kids' inheritance I'm spending...Ray My blog:http://www.rritchie.com/wordpress

Well one of these days maybe we can compare notes on the D800 over breakfast at Sam & Omies. I have rented the D800 a couple of times and was memorized.

Yup, I have decided to buy the 85mm f/1.4 for my Nikon D800.  Currently using 24-70mm f/2.8.  Does a wonderful job, but want the faster lens for low lighting situation and a bit of reach.  Just shopping around for best price at this time.Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Very nice photo, I haven't been down that way since 1954 while traveling Florida. I just bought this lens for general photography/landscape photos  to use with a D800 (my only camera).Es mejor pescar que ser pescado.

Thanks for the comment, polizonte.1954? Wow - that was a year or two before my family started vacationing in Nags Head, when I was a young kid. Completely different environment now - much more densely populated, more commercial - but a lot of the Outer Banks have been kept unspoiled through a combination of US National Parks and local conservancy efforts. Still a very enjoyable area to vacation.