Digital Photography
I have always had an interest in photography and imaging but never used a proper SLR until recently (November 2005). My digital compact camera had out-stayed its welcome with frustrating battery life and unpredictable results so I was looking for something to replace that. A friend of mine has been into photography since studying it at college and has just upgraded from film to a digital SLR with a Nikon D100. I had a little play and was hooked! I've opted for the entry-level D50 model as I have plenty to be getting on with for now.
As I learn I will put the best of my attempts into sectioned galleries here along with information about the subject and what settings I used etc. Also note that I have saved the large versions of these images with all the camera information; download the picture then right click it and do 'properties' then go to 'advanced' to see the file info.
Categories:
- Introduction - about me and my camera etc
- Astrophotography - Journal of activity with my telescope
- Events - Music Festivals, Fireworks, Dartmouth Regatta etc
- Night Sky - Star-trails, Moon etc
- Nature - Landscapes & Scenes of Natural Beauty
- Sports - Skateboarding etc
- Sunscapes - Sunrise, Sunset etc
- Weather - Lightning, Storms, Clouds
- Wildlife - Birds and animal, plants and flowers
These pictures are only the results of my learning so far but they are still subject to copyright. If you wish to use any for your website please let me know. For any noncommercial application all I would ask is a credit and web link in return. For higher resolution versions or commercial usage please email me.
Nikon D50 Digital SLR
My first SLR and a very nice piece of kit. SLR stands for single lense reflex which basically means you see directly through the lens when looking through the viewfinder. This means you see the zoom level and focus while you are planning your shot. I've got an 18-55mm general purpose lens and a 70-300mm zoom for wildlife and far away objects such as the Moon. A tripod is almost pretty much essential for clear shots at a distance or in lower light, or for long exposures like fireworks you simply have to have a tripod.
The camera gives full manual control of all the usual features such as shutter speed, aperture (F-numbers) and ISO sensitivity. A top speed of 4000th of a second for capturing crystal clear action and up to 30 sec's long exposure or using bulb mode the shutter can be held for 30 minutes. I have a remote control for triggering the shutter open and close when using bulb mode for star trails and similar projects.
I've also got a 2x right angle finder that extends the viewfinder to a larger size for much more accurate focusing. This is absolutely essential when using lenses that go passed infinity as both of mine do; the reason is that the temperature of the lens can effect where the best focus is and potentially stop you getting to infinity or perfect focus. The main reason I bought this was for focusing on stars when doing astrophotography but I'm now using it a lot in general photography too just to get that perfect focus which is so important. I opted for the far cheaper Seagull model (found on eBay) rather than Nikons own, it does the job fine! I've just bought a second battery for the D50 too which cost me a fiver rather than the much more expensive Nikon branded battery.