I bought a Nikon SB600 Speedlight. It is a detachable flash for the top of my camera. I love it so far. It works great with my Nikon D-50. The flash syncs with the camera. I am lazy and like to shoot in auto. It is making those pictures a lot better. It is also good because I can adjust how much light is being flashed, even in auto. It is a great photo toy. Anyone who likes to photograph people with a digital SLR should get one.
I am wondering how I should spend my photographic Budget. What should I buy first, a better DSLR body or more lens? I am not sure which would make my photography better. Right now I only have 2 lens. I have a 28-80mm and I have a 50mm 1.4. I know that I could use a wider lens and a longer zoom lens.
The Nikon D80 has come out recently. I was playing with it in the store the other day. It is a really nice camera. It is easy to see how it is better than my D50. I am not sure how much using a D80 would effect my photography.
It is a question of what should I save the money for first. I could scrap the money up for a new lens rather quickly. I would have to save for a while to get a new D80 body. I am not sure where the money would be better spent.
At the Meetup I was playing with a Lensbaby. It seems like a cool lens. I am not sure what kind of photos I would be able to take with it. I have the feeling I would not be in focus most of the time.
A Lens Baby is kind of an accordion lens. You put pressure on the lens to adjust the focus. It is tricky to do while you are holding your camera. The idea is that you could get photos you would not get any other way.
I think it is pretty cool. Part of me wants to buy one. I think it would be great to play with a toy like this. There is another part of me that says I should buy a lot of other photo gear before I get that. I am not sure what my photography means. I am not sure where I should put my money and my effort. Should I just play around or should I try to improve my photographic technique?
If anyone wants to buy it for me as a birthday gift I would be more than happy to accept it.
As anyone looking at my flickr account can see, I have been thinking a blog about photography lately. The newness of my new camera has not worn off. At this rate the newness may not go away for months. It is so cool and I love the kind of pictures I can take with it.
Having this camera makes me want to take lots of photos. I have been averaging 50 photos a day since I got it. That is a lot of photos. Some of them are good, some are no better than my old camera, and some of them just stink. I am taking a lot of photos so I can learn how to use this camera.
I also take a lot of photos because I am looking around more. I spent some money on this camera (and camera accessories) and I want to get the most out of it. It is also very enjoyable to use the camera. In cases where I used to take just one or two photos, I am now taking ten photos.
Now that I am taking so many more photos, I am not sure what I should do on flickr. Up to this point I have seen myself as a journaling photographer. I was just taking pictures of my day to day life to share with everyone. I was not worried about the limits of my camera or my skills. I was just working with what I could.
With my new camera I can take some better photos. One out of every 50 or so look really good. I have noticed that most of my flickr friends who are really good post very few photos. To make those photos stand out you limit how many you post. Maybe you post everyday but you only post one photo.
But there are thousands of really good photographers on flickr right now. There is only one person living my life. If I quite posting the photos of my everyday life, I might lose what makes me special on Flickr.
I guess I need to figure out what I want out of flickr. Do I want it to be about my life or do I want it to be about my photography. I can keep on posting the good pictures, but they will be lost amount the flood of all the other photos I am posting.
I know that my good photos are not what get the most views. Views are about lots of funny things. All of the sudden all of my photos of laptops have over 1000 views.
I have no idea how to messure what people like about my flickr photos.
My beloved camera has gone missing. I am quite heart broken over this. I no longer have my Olympus Stylus 400. I loved that camera. It is the fifth digital camera that I owned. It was the best one by far. If took okay pictures, but it fitted my needs perfectly. I am very sad about it going AWOL.
Now I need to figure out what I am going to do. I love taking pictures. I cannot just stop because my camera is gone. I think that photography is a good thing in my life. It is a hobby that gets me to pay attention to the world around me. I do not want to just give that up. I need to go through the pros and cons of each action from here.
Use my back up cameras until I save enough money for a digital SLR
Pro -I already have two back up cameras -fastest way to get a digital SLR -no money out of pocket already
Con -neither of my backup cameras are compact (Olympus D-550 & Olympus C-740). I will miss a lot of shots because I will have the cameras on me less -the Olympus D-550 needs new batteries every other day (not kidding) -still need to get a compact camera sometime
Buy a cheap point and shoot
Pro -less money out of pocket -faster way to a digital SLR -can find something small enough to take everywhere
Con -will not have all the features I am looking for. I want a compact camera that takes good low light photos. -will not have the same picture quality I had before -step backwards from my last camera
Buy the best compact camera I can find
Pro -get all the features I want -will be a step forward from my Olympus Stylus 400
Con -longest route to a digital SLR -paying the most out of pocket -might not need to spend all this money
Are there any options, pros or cons that I am missing?
I have an Olympus digital camera that I bought 8 months ago. When I bought it I also picked up the 128 MB smart media card. With that much memory, I can hold 221, 1024 x 768 .JPGs. I have never filled up the memory. The best I think I have done is is to take 150 pictures over three days.
I am thinking it would be a challenge to take 221 photos in one day. The challenge would be to fill up the card taking normal pictures. I know that I could fill up the card. I could take 14 picture as 1984x1488 TIFFs. That is not want I am thinking about. I am not sure what I can do with that many pictures. I am not sure I would have enough subjects. I think it would be a good way to spend a whole day.
Now that I have this camera, I want to start putting a new picture up everyday. I have already taken 100 pictures with this camera. Only about a dozen look any good.
This is my friend Eric. This picture fits much of my mental picture of Eric.
I love the ideas of small cameras. Digital technology is making small cameras rally cheap and good. I think it is cool because you can take people with out really intruding on them. Laura Holder is using an Aiptek camera around New York City.
I was so inspired by this site, I bought one of these cameras for myself. Here is a picture I took today outside Pac-Bell Park.
