"I always thought good photos were like good jokes. If you have to explain it, it just isn't that good."
-Anonymous
Monday, January 2, 2012
Photography Quote
"Nothing happens when you sit at home. I always make it a point to carry a camera with me at all times...I just shoot at what interests me at that moment."
-Elliott Erwitt
-Elliott Erwitt
What I'm Shooting With
I guess the first place to start would be to tell you what kind of camera I have. When I asked first my parents for a camera in 2009, my requirements were that it was "big like Dad's, has a big zoom in the front and takes good quality pictures." If you couldn't tell I was an amateur yet, I just gave it away. I'm sure after a few months of diving deeper into the world of photography I'll know exactly what I should have asked for that Christmas. But since I'm not there yet, I can say that I'm extraordinarily happy with my camera, as it does everything I first asked it to do.
On that winter wonderland morning I unwrapped a Nikon D5000. It's pretty basic, and has a LCD screen that flips out and can take videos. It came with a lens of 18-55mm.
This camera has led to a great lineage of gift ideas for my parents each holiday. My camera case didn't come with the camera that first Christmas, so for my birthday in February, guess what I got in the mail? I'd just like to point out my mom's creative edge to monogramming a gift such as a camera bag:
I'm about to turn 22 and yes, I still have that on my bag. Christmas the next year I got an AWESOME spy lens, a 55-300mm..which means if you are across the room from me, chances are I can zoom in on your eyeball. It's just the way it is. It was amazing to have when I was studying abroad and I wanted to zoom on monuments or buildings, or European people across the street.
Thing I first learned about the spy lens: Great for detail, terrible for landscapes.
So that's pretty much all the information I can provide about it. Here are some deets I gathered from some research for the more advanced, techy photographers who want to know more:
On that winter wonderland morning I unwrapped a Nikon D5000. It's pretty basic, and has a LCD screen that flips out and can take videos. It came with a lens of 18-55mm.
This camera has led to a great lineage of gift ideas for my parents each holiday. My camera case didn't come with the camera that first Christmas, so for my birthday in February, guess what I got in the mail? I'd just like to point out my mom's creative edge to monogramming a gift such as a camera bag:
I'm about to turn 22 and yes, I still have that on my bag. Christmas the next year I got an AWESOME spy lens, a 55-300mm..which means if you are across the room from me, chances are I can zoom in on your eyeball. It's just the way it is. It was amazing to have when I was studying abroad and I wanted to zoom on monuments or buildings, or European people across the street.
Thing I first learned about the spy lens: Great for detail, terrible for landscapes.
So that's pretty much all the information I can provide about it. Here are some deets I gathered from some research for the more advanced, techy photographers who want to know more:
- It's an upgrade from the Nikon D60 but sits below the D90. I hope I'm not the only one that doesn't wonder why they went from the tens to the thousands.
- 12.9 megapixel DX-format CMOS sensor (effective pixels: 12.3 million)
- 2.7" tilt and swivel LCD monitor (230,000 dots)
- Movie capture at up to 1280 x 720 (720p) 24 fps with mono sound
- Live View with contrast-detect AF, face detection and subject tracking
- Image sensor cleaning (sensor shake)
- 11 AF points (with 3D tracking)
- IS0 200-3200 range (100-6400 expanded)
- 4 frames per second continuous shooting (buffer: 7 RAW, 25 JPEG fine, 100 JPEG Normal)
- Expeed image processing engine
- Extensive in-camera retouching including raw development and straightening
- Connector for optional GPS unit (fits on hot shoe)
- New battery with increased capacity
- 72 thumbnail and calendar view in playback
So there you go! Please feel free to add any suggestions or tips as I go along.
Round One
So, I'm about to begin my last semester of my educational career. I know, I know. I've known it was coming. It doesn't stop the fact that now I have a mere 14 weeks left to cram in everything I've wanted to do in 18 years of going to school. On that list is to have a blog (developed more toward the college end of the spectrum, not the pre-K direction..like I know you were thinking) that is:
- a) not a class assignment
- b) not a temporary 3-month journal to keep my family updated while I'm abroad.
If you knew me before I started this blog, you know that I've previously done two blogs, both in that category. If you knew me way before those blogs..you knew I had a Xanga. Unfortunately, one my requirements for this blog was to have it NOT be a journal of my life and postings of inside jokes, because I know that even if people do want to read that for some weird reason, I certainly don't in five years. I'll stick to the traditional paper-and-ink method for memories I would like to keep for the future. Facebook is doing enough of tracking my life history.
On to the next one. I love taking pictures. I've loved it since the day of the disposable camera. I will always love taking pictures. But I know there is way more to it than clicking a button and capturing moments. So, here I go on my journey of becoming a legit photographer. It helps that this semester I'm taking the long-awaited SMAD 225, Photojournalism class. Hopefully you stumble on this one day as you are surfing the web doing everything but what you're supposed to be doing! And hopefully it won't bore you so you scramble to the next distraction as quickly as possible.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)