I heart my Nikon D80
I love my camera. Have I mentioned that, ever? Have you noticed? I just do. I love photography in general. There are so many reasons why. It has really opened up the creative artist(beast) in me. It challenges me, brings me excitement, anxiety, and most of all makes me happy. I find it to be such a creative outlet for me.
When I have my camera with me and I am out taking pictures, either of my kids riding their bikes around or walking around my property, taking pictures of flowers or birds, I see life around me differently. Things I would never have noticed before, or taken a closer look at. I would have passed those things by. I see a sunrise as a brand new day, a beautiful thing and a chance to capture such beauty and hold on to it. I've learned moon phases and when the moon will be its fullest each month. I've learned where the sun will set as each month passes by. To the south during winter, then slowly moving back towards western skies as spring draws near. I've learned where good spots are to capture those pretty sunsets and how to develop a great composition for the final outcome. These are things I never took into account before I bought my Nikon last year. I have learned so many things about taking pictures and have loved every minute of it. I just find it fun, challenging and have realized that by taking so many pictures, I have developed a strong passion for something I feel confident about. Not many things make you feel like that. So why this DSLR camera over a point and shoot? First off, DSLR stands for digital single-lens reflex camera. With a DSLR camera you can choose lenses to suit your needs for particular environments and your style, say portraiture or nature or sports. A DSLR allows you to choose how you want your final outcome of the picture taken to be controlled by how you do your settings such as film speed, exposure and aperture. With having this type of camera a photographer has so much more control over their picture taking. Who doesn't like to be in control? I've had various point and shoot digital cameras since they first evolved years ago. With a point and shoot camera you simply turn it on, point at your subject, shoot away and the camera pretty much takes care of everything else for you. Your shutter speed, ISO(film speed), exposure, aperture and white balance. Of course you can shoot outside of Auto mode with your P & S camera, but do you really? I've taken some great shots with a Kodak Easy Share P & S camera my son has now fondly taken over. But I wanted to join the DSLR club and further my photography passion. And yes, having the camera I do now has fueled me to keep my camera attached to me and just about fill my computer's hard drive with picture files. I am just an amateur photographer. I am still learning as I go. I'm a self-taught photographer and have learned more from reading various books, studying how others have taken shots, scanned photography websites and have re-read my camera's manual numerous times. My top picks for books to read are ones by Scott Kelby and Bryan Peterson. They are photography icons. Flickr.com is another invaluable place to learn photography. With its numerous forums about all types of cameras, picture taking styles, one could spend days reading there. Even by looking at other photographer's pictures and seeing their picture's camera data on how a shot was taken has taught me so much. I have also learned a great deal from PioneerWoman.com. I think when I first came across her blog several years ago, it was her pictures that drew me in and made keep going back to her site. Then her cooking recipes sealed the deal on forever bookmarking her site. I wanted to take pictures like her! I loved her passion for photography and how it brought such joy to her. Why Nikon over Canon or Sony? I think it had something to do with already having a Nikon camera. I have a film N55 Nikon I used to use and took pictures in Auto mode, with 400 speed all-the-gosh-darn-time. This is how I used that camera. Knowing what I know now, I wished I had learned how to use my camera's settings and crawl away from Auto mode. Of course not long after purchasing my film camera digital cameras came out and everyone crossed over to those, including me. Suddenly it was much easier and cheaper to take a picture, look at it right on the back of your camera and either keep it or delete it. Life seemed so much more easier!
Taken with my 50mm 1.8, ISO 640, aperture f/1.8, shutter speed 1/125 sec, manual modeWhat lenses do I use? I researched and researched on which lens to buy with my D80. I heard pros and cons over buying a "kit" lens which is a lens most everyday people can use and comes readily attached to your camera. It is a starting lens so to speak. However there are limitations with a kit lens. I knew I wanted a faster lens, one that worked well in low light and something sharp for doing portrait work. I chose a 50mm 1.8 . People rave about this lens. It is a prime lens, meaning it does not zoom in or out and has a set distance or focal length of 50mm. This is a great portrait, everyday lens that gives you the versatility of shooting various moments that take place. It is a fast lens and works great in low light, thus allowing you to void that pop-up flash. I do not like pop-up flashes. At all.
Taken with my 18-200mm, ISO 200, aperture f/5.6, focal length 200mm, shutter speed 1/60 sec(which should have been faster)
My other favorite lens is my 18-200mm VR . After purchasing the 50mm, I realized I wanted and needed a lens with some zoom. I have found this lens to be my all around, everywhere, take-all favorite to have on my camera. This is my outdoor lens I use for taking pictures of landscapes and nature. The VR stands for Vibration Reduction otherwise know as Image Stablization, meaning you can usually hand hold this lens when shooting. The lens holds your subjects in focus giving you clean, clear shots. I have also loved it for my kid's baseball and softball games. Nothing worse than not being able to "see" your kids from those bleachers. While I splurged a bit on this lens, I have never regretted purchasing it.
Taken with my 85mm 1.8 lens, ISO 100, aperture f/1.8, shutter speed 1/1600(that's really fast!), focal length 85mm, manual mode.
Taken with my 85mm 1.8, ISO 100, aperture f/1.8, shutter speed 1/125, focal length 85mm, manual mode.This past fall I purchased another lens. I had been reading how so many loved this lens, the 85mm 1.8 because of its wonderful depth of field, sharpness, quickness and abilities in low light. Much like my 50mm 1.8, its widest aperture of 1.8 brings your subject into focus but blurs your background and makes for beautiful shots. This lens saved me during my daughter's recent figure skating show. Even with the show's low light performances, I was still able to capture my daughter skating sans flash and because of its focal length she didn't appear so far away. My 18-200 would never have captured these moments because of its higher aperture number, 3.5-5.6. In low light, that lens is just slow and while I could have raised my ISO to compensate for this, anything above 400 film speed I see noise. My pictures get grainy and that just bugs me to no end. So with my 85mm lens, I have a wider aperture, thus more light can enter my camera, thus allowing me to keep my ISO to 200 or 320 and still capture sharp, clear, noiseless pictures of my daughter figure skating. Aperture? Say what? Sometimes it's all about the aperture! A wide aperture number of 1.8(which confuses many, it did me, because when you hear "wide" it may cause you to think a larger number but it is opposite of this)lets in more light into your camera, causing your shutter speed to be faster, which is also dependent on your ISO, which we know as our film speed. If you have ever shopped for lenses, you will notice lens having an aperture number of 2.8, 1.8, 1.4, 1.2 are very expensive! That is because they are fast lenses. They freeze motion quicker. Provide clear, sharp pictures and provide those blurred backgrounds and bokeh. Wow, way too much information. Did you all just get a brain freeze? Are you suddenly asking yourself "what the heck is Bokeh? What is she talking about? Does she know what she is talking about?" Well, in a sense, no not really, but in actual truth, I know what I am saying here, but I'm probably not coming across as effectively as I would like. Please bear with me!
Bokeh means "the wonderful out-of-focus light and shapes and colors you find in the background of many photos taken with a digital camera" and you can read more about this here.
Here is an example of a picture having bokeh. Notice the bubble effects of light in the background? That's bokeh baby. Every photographer's dream to achieve for most picture taking, especially portraits. It is quite a popular look today.
Taken with my 50mm 1.8, ISO 100, aperture f/1.8, shutter speed 1/500 sec, focal length 50mm, aperture priority mode.
Okay, so I had to throw in that last tidbit of information because that is another reason why I love my camera's abilities as much as I do. I also love how my daughter's bangs are not in her eyes in this picture much like they are now since she is trying to grow them out. That's another story.
Preparing for composing a picture is much like a mathematical equation. Let me tell you this. I sucked at math. Hated it. Understood it up until advanced algebra and then I was all done. I wanted nothing more to do with math. So trying to understand how to take pictures and make that equation all come together and compose a perfect outcome makes me queasy at times. This is all because I have challenged myself to shoot in full manual mode. Meaning I am controlling how I want my pictures to turn out. I decide on which film speed will work along with how the shutter speed will control the shot and which aperture number will cause how all of this will come together. Or turn this all around and decide on which aperture will allow how much light to come into the camera and whether the ISO should be raised and how those two items will affect the shutter speed and exposure. Holy heck hey? Should it all be this confusing and difficult? Heck no! It isn't that confusing at all. It is something you learn as you go. If you were anti-algebra like me, then you'll be fine. Eventually it will all make perfect sense.
I will give you two bits of advice if you are serious about taking your photography skills further than just snapping a picture of your cat sleeping. First, read your camera's manual. Yes, that boring booklet that came with your camera and is now stashed away in the box your camera came in. Go dig it out, sit down, take a deep breath, let it out and start reading. As you read along, play with your camera's settings as well. Learn what your camera does, where you change the film speed(ISO), how to change the aperture and for goodness gracious how each mode, aperture, shutter priority, program, and eventually manual mode work and what purpose they serve. Then when all is said and done you can learn about white balance, what your histogram is for and whether to shoot in RAW or JPEG form. Good grief!
Make goals. Learn how your aperture affects your depth of field. How it can blur the background behind your cat sleeping but only the cat is in clear focus. Learn how your shutter speed can slow movement or freeze it. One day I sat on my couch and took pictures of our ceiling fan. I learned how to freeze its motion(in my camera of course)and how to show that blurred motion. I learned this by controlling my camera's aperture, ISO, shutter speed and exposure meter. Great fun! Doing this and really sitting down and thinking about all of these factors taught me a thing or two after 50 pictures of my ceiling fan. And Yooper wonders what I do all day long. Exciting stuff hey?
My next piece of advice is this. Start taking pictures. Lot's and lot's of pictures. Practice, practice, practice. I highly recommend shooting outside of auto mode and going up to aperture priority mode. Leaving the safety and crutch of auto mode will move you further along to understand how all the pieces of that mathematical equation come together to equal a beautiful picture. With aperture priority mode, your camera decides your shutter speed and exposure settings for you. All you have to do is decide on the ISO and aperture value or f/stop number. However the ISO and aperture value(number) you choose also affects how your camera decides its shutter speed and exposure. If you are outside with lot's of natural light, shoot with an ISO of 100 or 200 and your lowest(widest) aperture number your lens will go to. If you are shooting a field of clover and want everything in focus, then raise your aperture number to f/16. If you want just a four leaf clover in focus, and you've moved in close for this shot, then open your lens aperture to its widest number say, 1.8 or 2.2 or 3.2. Remember your aperture setting controls how much light you want to come into your camera and how much depth of field or an out of focus look you want to photograph. Here is a hint as well. If you are shooting away and you hear your camera's shutter button click really fast(your camera's shutter mechanism stayed open for a fraction of a second), then you probably captured a clear, in focus shot. That would mean a fast shutter speed. You just froze your subject and it's movement, if any. Or if you just heard your camera's shutter click slower and it gave you a sick feeling then yes, that would mean a slower shutter speed(your camera's shutter mechanism stayed open longer) and most likely a blurred shot. Ever wonder how photographers get that soft, silky look to rivers and waterfalls? With a slow shutter speed. I really want to try that sometime!
The greatest part of having a digital camera is you see exactly what you took a picture of right away and decide whether that shot is a keeper or garbage. Wasting money on film is a thing of the past. Photography is all about trial and error. Learn from your errors and how to prevent those mistakes from happening again. Learn from your camera's settings on how your picture was shot. Your camera's picture data will be all right there for you to see right away. Again, read your manual and how to find this information. You have to educate yourself on the ins and outs of your camera and that means reading that boring manual. You will be amazed at what you learn!
If you need and want to learn more about any of what I just wrote about, especially Aperture, Shutter Speed, Exposure then I highly recommend heading on over to Pioneer Woman's site and read her tutorials on these subjects. There is so much info there to read and it really all makes sense!
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