Hello all! About my camera: I am lucky enough to have a wonderful husband who treated me to this wonderful gift for mother's day. It is a Nikon D3100 with an 18-55mm VR lens. For those who don't know, VR stands for vibration reduction which for this class will be a plus. It helps reduce some of the camera shake that comes with hand-holding the camera (instead of using a tripod). The highest ISO setting is 12800 (for which I have no idea what the use would be!) which offers more than I need, but the flexibility is a benefit. One nice thing about this camera is that it is very light for an SLR and small enough for me to handle comfortably. I have short fingers and can't handle the "big dog" camera my husband uses. The lens is a nice size. It enables me to get in close enough for a good cropped shot. The display is also pretty large so I can tell if the image is blurry and requires a retake. I also keep a UV filter on mine to protect the lens glass from damage and animal licks. I can control the depth of field as well, so hopefully I can get good images and spend less time in Photoshop trying to correct them. File sizes are larger, but I have a 32GB card so it won't fill up quickly. Here is a shot I managed to get tonight without the flash:
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| Maggie without space cadet eyes |
And also one of our puppy model, Jeffrey (Professor Johnstone, please forgive me if I misspelled his name):
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| Puppy Vogue |
As far cons, the lens does stick out much further than a point-and-shoot, so damage is a risk. It is also new, so I'm still learning it so there is the risk of missing a good shot while trying to get a setting right. I've been practicing non-stop around my house getting shots of my dog in action to hopefully get better. My dog must think I'm insane! Another con is that if my battery runs out, I've got to recharge it. I don't have an extra, so that's one thing I've got to keep track of. I think one of the biggest cons is that the size of it may be intimidating to some animals because of how much of the human face they hide when we hold them up to get a shot. Imagine being a little critter and seeing this:
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Frightening new human with big ugly black thing on its face!
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Yikes! I think this is where time spent cuddling the animals will be well spent. Even if it means letting the dog stick its nose on the lens. My pup left her nose print on mine today and we all survived. :)
Happy shooting!
Excellent post! You are making such an astute observation about not only being concerned with what is going on in front of your lens, but what the subject is experiencing looking at you. This empathetic thinking will have a tremendously positive impact on your photographs, especially when we are aiming for compassion. Good job technically as well, and nice captions!! It is great to see the older photo taken with the flash to compare. Tonight's image is much stronger. Maggie is a cute pup!
ReplyDeleteThis post is very helpful to me since I am really struggling with whether to buy a dslr camera or to keep improving with my good quality Sony point and shoot. I'd love to handle your camera one day if you'd be willing to bring it perhaps to the next face to face class or if you want to check in one day when you're on campus for your other class. I'm looking for something small and lightweight to help with the strain on my poor fibromyalgia muscles. Carrying a camera for long periods really can get to me. I have an old Nikormat slr which was my primary camera for almost 30 years and has stood me in good stead but I'm thinking it may be time to get a digital slr. I also like the fact that I could, I think, use my old Nikon lenses on a new Nikon body.
ReplyDeleteThe other thing I sometimes have is a big problem with blur because of vibration on my point and shoot even though it supposedly has improved stabilization control. So that's also a plus with what you have. I'm on the prowl so to speak for a while investigating what will be the best fit for me.
PS. Your hubby is a sweetie to get you this camera. It sounds like a perfect fit for you.
PSS. Sorry to digress from the pics which are great. I'm impressed with the quality of light in the photo of Maggie. Also, very nice self portrait. You look like a pro.
@ Georgia...I am intimately familiar with the struggles of fibro. I will bring my camera with me to our next meeting. You can play with it if you want. One of the reasons I chose it was for its light weight (and for the very reasons you mentioned). It has been fantastic for this class! I absolutely love it. And yes, I am very lucky to have a husband who loves me so much. :)
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