Wow, that picture is sharp! My ignorance would never allow me to bump my ISO so high. Thanks for the great advice. I will try doing this in the near future. Great bokeh, but I wouldn't want my DoF to be so shallow. I would prefer a little bit more detail of the tree (not too much, mind you). I do have a Sekonic L-358, but apparently it has not seen much use. I have collected a lot of gears but still continue to use my camera like a glorified point & shoot. Don't have too much time and way too many excuses to really improve my learning curve. I am considering joining a club so that I can get some pointers. I know it's not my gear. They are adequate for anything I can think of. I am the one who needs to learn to use the tools that I have.
Nikon D300 (6 years old now)
*Gave away my 18-200mm VR to my dad for Xmas 6 years ago*
I have a whole bunch of prime lenses: F/1.4 to F/8 (500mm Reflex) and 70-200mm VR I.
I usually don't shoot full manual. Aperture and/or shutter speed are the main ones that play around with. Usually by adjusting one of these, I can get the result I want...except my Christmas pictures mentioned above.