I'm always tickled when people ask me about my photography and camera gear. I love taking photos, I take millions, and I'm always trying to improve my skills, so I take it as a wonderful compliment. In light of recent questions I thought I'd put together some posts about my camera gear, what adjustments I make to my photos (editing etc) and my methods for posting them online in case it helps anyone. Here's the first instalment - about my camera gear.
My current camera is a Nikon D90 and I bought it online here. Its my second Nikon DSLR (my first was a D50), and for those of you who don't quite understand what that means I found a great description and comparison of SLR cameras here. If I had one piece of advice to improve your photography it's this, if you can afford it buy an SLR. The prices are coming down all the time and there are always second hand bargains around. And for those of you intimidated by these cameras let me tell you that despite taking photography as a subject at art school I always use the automatic settings. I'm always in a hurry and they work just fine for me. I know shock horror! For those of you who are happy with your own camera I'll include some tips for shooting and editing with compact cameras (like our Canon Ixus) in later instalments.
Though my camera is quite bulky and not as easy to carry around the place as our compact camera I do find myself carting it along most places. At the end of the day its worth the inconvenience to me to have better quality photos. I found out this year when I went shopping for a new lens that the standard 18-50mm lens which comes on the Nikon is actually a great lens. It has a really close focus capability so I can get up close without having to drag my bulky macro along all the time but also goes out wide enough to take landscapes in the next second.
Saying that though I do love my macro and its one of the great things about an SLR that you can swap lenses depending on what you want to photograph. My lens is a Tamron 90mm Macro and I got it for a birthday/xmas present a couple of years ago. A macro lens brings the magical miniature worlds of flowers and textures into tight focus and gives great 'bokeh', that wonderful blurriness you see in the background of some photos. Its lots of fun and great for flower photography.
I'm also saving up for a cheap zoom so I can take photos of the birdie visitors to my garden. Maybe next birthday ;-)
To show you the difference between lenses I took some photos of the same scene with both, macro first and 18-50mm second. These photos have been tweaked and cropped using the basic iPhoto program on a Mac, but I'll save the info on that and some tips for shooting and uploading for another post.
Gorgeous photos Susie :)
ReplyDeleteI'm a big fan of SLRs too but it is the size of them that makes me continue using my quick-pic digital. I have a dinosaur of an SLR (fully manual!) that I still use from time to time... and yes, I love it :)
Your photos make me want to pull it from the shelf and wipe off the dust it's gathered lately. I mostly use mine to shoot b&w and develop my own with my old 1960s developing equipment my dad left to me when he died. It is a passion but one I can't indulge in too often because of time restraints (and setting everything up in the bathroom is always a pain!)
Thanks for this lovely post :) Kx
Your timing is perfect.
ReplyDeleteI'm researching my first DSLR at the moment.
Thanks so much!!
Andi :-)
Nikon D60 myself – couldn't get my hands around the D90! I am such a pansy. Still have some sort of vague intention about reading the manual in order to do more than the shock! horror! automatic bizzo.
ReplyDeleteGreat shots, missus.
Beautiful images. I too have a Nikon D90 and yes...I too...still use it on auto for most of the same reasons :) My SLR was a Nikon too and very hard to let go of as it had been a faithful companion on many travels and adventures but I had to get with the evolution of things and trade up to a DSLR. Great thing is I can still use my old lenses so I have quite an array now but the basic one works fine for most things like you say :)
ReplyDeleteinterested (always) to read about other peoples photography adventures...recently bought two second-hand DSLRs after years of not being up to holding my SLR and am rediscovering the joys of 'real photography'. huge macro fan too and debating whether to invest in a lens or extension tubes - so good to see what you are doing with your lens. and i agree, it's fantastic when someone comments on your photos!
ReplyDeleteI am also passionate about photography. I did a short course last year, and it opened up the camera to me. I get quite excited about taking shots.
ReplyDeleteI have an Olympus SLR.
I love your photographs of flowers. Such a helpful post; I would be so lost without my macro lense :-)
ReplyDeleteIt's all your fault!!!
ReplyDeleteI now own a Nikon DSLR and a macro lens.
Thanks.
Andi :-)
Hello Susie, I have been meaning to come back to your photography posts, and tonight with the girls in bed early and a cup of tea in my hand I have the perfect opportunity. I love your macro shots. I have a cannon 50D with a standard lense which I also mostly keep on the auto setting(something I would not have done with my film SLR cameras, the shots are usually good and sometimes surprising. Thanks for sharing your knowledge and tips:)
ReplyDeleteYou are lucky girl.I put on my post photo with my "stupid" phone.I wish to have good camera.Someday will be.But i love blogging with my soul.:))
ReplyDelete