Apparently he has the same Monkey-see Monkey-do nature as Vanessa does because soon afterwards he brought home a ton research material on digital cameras, dropped it on my desk, and tried to coerce me into buying one.
I said, "Uhm, I already have a digital camera. Plus the one you want (Nikon D80) is $1300!" He said all his friends at work got one and he wanted one too. So he offered to split the cost with me on it. I had always been curious about these fancy cameras so I acquiesced. So this Sunday I bought this:
It's a Nikon D80 Digital SLR Camera. That means that it works like a professional camera in that you look through the viewfinder (not the LCD) to frame the picture. The viewfinder gets the picture through the lens via a complex set of mirrors so you see exactly what the lens sees. Another cool feature is that the lens is detachable so you can swap it out to suit your particular purpose.
Just as I had pulled the camera out of the box, my brother came over with my niece and demanded I took a picture of her for a birthday party card they wanted to mail out. Keep in mind I had no idea how to use the camera at this point so I set it on full auto, took her to our garden and started snapping away! P.S., I barely know anything about photography at this point, so comments are welcome ;) I think I have a lot to learn to really be able to use this camera.
This shot is using a big zoom lens to blur the background and achieve a "portrait" look.
Another cool part about SLR cameras is that they can take consecutive pictures really fast. Up to 100 shots, 3 per second. This was extremely useful because I just could not get my niece to stand still :) She ran around like a little tyrant while I tried to take these pictures! It's a miracle that any of them turned out!When we asked her to stand still so that I could take her picture she threw up her arms and shrugged, "Sorry Uncle James that's not possible!" :D
The ability to take a bunch of pictures in a short period of time lets you catch a cool expression right when it happens. And you never know when it will!
I swapped to the non-zoom lens here to capture flowers in the background.:
I wish I had this camera with me when I went to Japan. Even though it is so much bulkier I think it allows for much better pictures than the compact one I have!
8 comments:
I'M SO F!@#$ING JEALOUS!!!!! You know I have camera issues.
WOW What good quality!! And is that a rock bench in the back yard? Beautiful landscape!
Wow, and that was on full auto?! That really put my little camera to shame.
Cindy - Yea I know. You're welcome to come check it out and give it a test run. Actually I would like to see what you can do with a camera like this.
Flat coke - Thanks! Yea that's not actually a rock bench but rather a rock ring. Inside the ring is a patio set with a table and chairs to hang out in.
James - Yea that was on auto. Although I did know enough to swap the lenses back and forth but that's about it. I'm kind of surprised they turned out as well as they did considering it was my first run.
I had been trying to take portraits like that with my little camera for a long time and never came close.
Uh, I'm afraid to play with your camera. What if, like, I get too attached to it and have to leave with it? I mean, if it gets too attached to ME and roots into the skin on my hand? :/
And I wonder if Flat Coke thought the same thing I did when she read "a rock ring" in her head.
Oh then I wanna come hang out in the ring then. We could sit around and take pix of each other!!
Who said Rock Ring??? was it me?? I guess I did!
Cindy - You know you want to come and play! I wanna see your mad photo taking skillz!
Flat Coke - You are welcome to come and hang out in my rock ring to take photos! There's plenty of room there for us all since it's so big.
Nice camera!!!! I love the pix of your niece....too cute! Have fun taking tons of photos!!! ANd don't forget to post them!
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