Spencer, Zachary and I spent last week in California. We attended the ASMC conference filled with all things Apple! Spencer spent most days in meetings and we joined him for meals, meetings when we could, and got really lucky when we found a Target IN a mall while on the hunt for some mylicon for Z-man!
It was a treat to only have one boy to take care of, I took my time getting ready in the mornings, read three books, took naps, sat in the sun….it was great!
Zachary was a great little traveler. He had some fussy days and was way off schedule with the time change, but overall he did great. Daddy even got him a book signed by the Woz! haha!
We stayed in San José but one afternoon Spencer had a meeting in Cupertino at Apple, or the “Mothership” as some called it!
After the meeting we headed to San Francisco to see the Golden Gate Bridge and eat dinner.
I kept comparing everything in San Francisco to Full House! I grew up watching that show, and so when I think of San Francisco, I think of Uncle Jesse and the Olsen twins! haha!
We ate dinner in downtown San Francisco and then drove around for a bit. It was crazy, people, cars, hills, buildings, street cars, I am definitely not cut out for the city life. I like to visit and then go home to my quiet little house!
(Sorry for the poor picture quality, it was late, cold and windy so we didn’t check to make sure they turned out ok!)
On our last day Spencer only had morning meetings and then we headed to Monterey Bay with the group and went to the aquarium and dinner.
This picture is for Spencer’s Grandma!
If you know me well then you have probably seen me stand like this, usually when I am leaning against the counter washing dishes, cutting up food or in the bathroom getting ready in the morning. My mom used to do it too, and I think my sister does as well. It’s comfortable for me and I do it without realizing it. I couldn’t resist when I saw this flamingo picture because that’s what it reminds me of! Haha!
Zachary all bundled up on our way to dinner!
One of the biggest hi-lights on the trip was all the wonderful food! All of our meals were provided by the conference and it was seriously the best food I have ever eaten! There was always fresh fruit, vegetables, salads, fish and more desserts than any one person needs Let’s just say that coming home and having to cook has been less than thrilling! I couldn’t resist taking a few pictures….try not to drool on your computer!
I was so thankful for a chance to get away, but as always it was wonderful to get home to our big boys!
Lindsay has been posting photos from each of day of our cruise so I thought I would write about a little bit different aspect of cruising. First off we love cruising because everything is done for us. Our bed was made at least 2 times a day (we took afternoon naps), bathroom cleaned, all meals prepared and tables cleared, entertainment options a staircase away. We also get to see other countries and work a nice tan. Another side effect of being on a boat in the middle of the ocean is the lack of internet. While the ship had WiFi, it is slower than your average cable modem and at 75¢ per minute we typically pass on the WiFi. We could actually relax without having to check the latest box scores, email, and facebook status every 5 minutes.
We actually found free WiFi at the beach in Costa Maya Mexico. It was great to get a quick internet fix after 5 days of isolation. Then it was great to leave it at the beach in Mexico so we could enjoy the rest of our vacation.
Even though there is a lack if tech on a ship I’m a tech guys so here are a few things I learned that I think would be helpful if you are going cruising anytime soon.
Buy an internet package on the first day (if you left your kids at home)
While we did not do this I think we will next time. You can get 48 minutes for $29, yeah not a killer rate but better than the per minute rate. Lindsay and I decided that we would do this so we could tell whoever is watching our kids that we would check our email everyday before noon. This way they could email us each day or every couple of days with updates and questions on the kids. Honestly this is mainly for us, after a few days you start to miss the little rascals, so we could know what’s going on back home. Forty-eight minutes over 7 days is just under 7 minutes a day. This will still keep you from spending much time on the internet and you really need at least 5 minutes to check email because it is a very slow connection. Spending half an hour online during a seven day cruise seems reasonable for any crucial communication.
Stay in touch on the Social Network
Carnival has an “on ship” social network on their fun ships called Funville. For the first few days I didn’t even bother to check it out but after our walkie talkies didn’t seem to be working a stroke of genius hit me, use Funville. In our group of 6 we had at least 4 smartphones with Wi-Fi. Even though we could not use our phones to make phone calls (at least not a reasonable rates) we were still carrying around cell phones to listen to music while laying out, taking pictures, for an alarm clock, etc. So why not use them to keep in touch of our group. If you decide to do this make sure to turn your phone to Airplane mode, then turn on WiFi. If you don’t use Airplane mode you may be in for an unpleasant surprise on your phone bill when you get home.
Open your web browser on your phone and Carnival automatically directs you to a page to sign in for internet use or Funville. Funville does not require any minutes mentioned above, it is completely free. Funville works like other social networks such as FaceBook. I did run into an issue when signing up, the popup windows didn’t like my cell phone so I had to complete the registration from my MacBook Pro (you could use any of the Fun Hub computers on the ship if you don’t bring your own). Once registered you can add friends and also make all your content viewable by everyone or just friends. After you have everyone in your group registered and added as a friend just start adding status updates. It is easy to view your updates and your friends’ updates. This is a great way to keep track of were everyone is and what they are doing.
We did not use this since I didn’t think of it until we were halfway through our cruise but I can see it being useful on future cruises. Of course it will only work if you have a mobile WiFi device like a cell phone, iPod touch or iPad. And if people don’t give status updates then it is completely useless. On the flip side if you can remember to update Facebook every 15 minutes then it shouldn’t be a problem to update Funville when arriving at different destinations on the ship. Plus it will help with the Facebook withdrawal you will have starting around day 4.
While a good vacation gets you away from the every day grind, including time spent on the internet, using it in the right way can help make your vacation even better. Even without the internet or Funville I highly recommend taking a cruise for your next vacation!
The iPad has been out in the wild for a few weeks now and I have had a chance to play with it on and off. But Wednesday night I spent about 3 hours with it putting the iPad through its paces.
Before I get any further you should know I manage an Apple Specialist Store so I am obviously a Mac guy, maybe even a fan boy if you like. I thought I knew what to expect during my one night stand with this revolutionary product. I know the iPad will not replace my computer but would it make a practical companion? That is the question. So here we go…
My sports fix. Since Lindsay was watching tv the first thing I did was check the Rays score with MLB At Bat 2010. I couldn’t watch the game live (which is possible for some games) but I was able to have pitch by pitch updates and other in-game info. Perhaps my favorite feature was the highlights posted during the game. About 20 minutes after Longoria and Peña hit back-to-back homeruns I watched the highlight right on the iPad, in excellent quality. It was pretty cool. I checked on the game throughout the night watching highlights along the way.
Next I wanted to game. I’m not a gamer, I don’t even own a computer game. But the iPad had Real Racing HD installed so I gave it a spin. It was easy to pick a car and get started, but maybe I shouldn’t have skipped the intro. Let’s just say I stalled on the starting line because there is no “button” for gas and I didn’t know what to do. After a couple seconds I figured out my right thumb was the gas pedal, my left the brake. Pretty cool, I didn’t have to worry about where my thumb was as long it was on the right side of the screen. As I tilted my way through the first lap I became quite good and on my second lap I posted the race’s fastest lap. I still came in 4th because of my horrific first lap, but I enjoyed my racing adventures. It was similar to racing on a Wii but being able to hold the screen in my hand was pretty cool.
To the internet and beyond! The iPad is supposed to be a great internet device so I tapped on Safari and started browsing. I hit the regulars, ESPN.com and sportsline.com. I read a few articles from bleacherreport.com about Tebow and the Broncos. Some interesting articles that got me excited about Pro Football for the first time in a couple years. I tapped on a video at ESPN.com fulling expecting it to give me an error because of the lack of Flash support on the iPad. To my surprise the videos worked fine. ESPN now uses HTML 5 for video instead of (or at least in conjunction with) Flash. I then moved on to more important things like bills. I logged into my bank account and investment account and everything worked as expected. I paid some bills and check my balances. I found that I actually enjoyed my web surfing experience on the iPad more than on my MacBook Pro. Notebooks are not called laptops for a reason. They just aren’t that comfortable on your lap. The iPad was a natural fit in my lap kind of like a small puppy only no messes. I found the lack of Flash support did not hinder my web surfing experience. On a side note, if you play a lot of online games then you may be disappointed as many of them use flash. But on the bright side there are thousands of games available on the app store and you won’t waste 2 hours a day on farmville
Work, what? Yes, the iPad can do some work. I tapped on Pages and played with some invitations and word processing documents. I was impressed by how it handled photos and other graphic elements. At the same time I realized that if I was going to do a lot of typing I would want a Keyboard dock or a wireless keyboard. But for me the ability to pull up a document or spreadsheet to make a quick change and email it to someone is a nice feature. Personally, I would not expect to use the iPad as my main source for creating new content, especially long or complicated documents.
My photos. If you are a regular on this blog you know we take a ton of photos. During my one night stand I also had the optional Camera Connection Kit. This allowed my to load all my photos from my digital camera onto the iPad. The photos loaded fast, it was slower than loading to my computer, but not enough to notice unless you are counting, which I was. I must stop and saw wow! I realized the screen was nice but when I viewed my photos I was blown away. The photos “popped”, it was different than looking at the demo photos that are designed to be perfect. Seeing my photos make on the screen made me realize how sweet the screen looks. I was impressed to say the least. Then when you connect your iPad to your computer it will sync your photos, just like you were connecting your camera. This would be great for loading your photos while on vacation, no more looking at a 2.5″ screen on your camera.
For the Kids. Andrew loved coloring Buzz and Woody on the free Toy Story Read-Along app. Taylor (my 3 year old niece) and Andrew were both trying to color the same picture when Taylor left found a coloring book, proceeded to open it, take it to her daddy (my brother) and ask, “Where the computer in this one?” with a puzzled look on her face. It is crazy to think that in a matter of years, maybe a few decades, that won’t be such a funny question. But there is no question the iPad was a hit with the kiddos.
Other observations and notes. Here are a few short observations about the iPad. The battery lasted forever. I started using it at 68% and after several hours of use was only down to 20%. It never got hot. My biggest complaint about my MacBook Pro is that if I use it in my lap it gets hot, it doesn’t feel like I’m going to get burned or anything but my body temp is noticeably higher. I did not try and read books on it or even check my email. But the iPad is more than capable for both of these tasks. You can also read the Bible on the iPad. I have the app for my iPhone and its great to not only read but also have access to commentary. The iPad with 3G also has a GPS chip so you can get driving directions on a 9.7″ screen. No excuses for getting lost!
iPad limits. It may sound that the iPad is the best at everything however that is not true. After my one night stand I know the iPad is great at many things but not everything. The iPad will not replace your computer for most people, at least not yet. But it is one killer companion. I see more people turning away from notebook computers and buying desktops with an iPad to go with it. The reality is that you get more bang for your buck in a desktop so why not get a big screen, fast processor, and large hard drive in your desktop then get an iPad with money you saved on a similarly configured notebook. Use the desktop to edit your home videos store you family photo albums and use the iPad to surf the web, check email, view photos, watch movies, basically consume any and all content anywhere you go. After all isn’t that what we do on our computers 95% of the time?
Summary. The iPad is designed for the average, non-techie, and it just works. If you want to customize every nook and cranny of the iPad then you will be disappointed and the iPad wasn’t created with you as its target market either. If you want something that just works, the iPad is for you. To have technology that just works is a great feeling in the complicated techno world we live in. I must say the iPad passed my tests with flying colors. Instead of just wanting one, I now NEED one! Now the only question is which one and how fast can I save my money…
Want to try one for yourself? I encourage you to check out the iPad and see if you like it. You can go to an Apple Store or a Best Buy to see it but I would encourage you to check out the local Apple Dealers who also carry the iPad. You can see if there is one close to you but going to http://www.apple.com/buy/locator/ just make sure the store has a purple dot next to its name, signifying authorization to sell the iPad. Supporting local business helps keep more of your money in your local economy than buying at a chain store.
And now my iPad has been returned to is 10° acrylic riser securely locked to the demo table between its two siblings. I will miss you iPad but our separation won’t belong, I will bring you home once the check from Uncle Sam arrives. I hope he mails it soon!
So I have written about some general photography tips and equipment, now its time for the digital darkroom. It is a good rule of thumb to take a photo that requires the least amount of editing in post production (aka the digital darkroom). But the reality is that you will need to do some retouching, color correction, cropping, etc. As a hobbyist you will not always have the camera set to the perfect settings or be able to think fast enough to switch in the middle of shooting. This is where a computer and some good software comes into play. Remember this post is for beginners, not professional photographers, so the tips I give may or may not be recommended by The PPA (Professional Photographers of America) or other such groups.
First a few camera settings:
When I shoot I always leave the camera in Auto White Balance mode, I’m not going to carry around a White Balance Card with me, that just isn’t going to happen, so auto is my friend. Plus it is pretty easy to correct on the computer.
I also shoot in Automatic mode for most settings. I will turn to some presets, like Action/Sports, if I am shoots fast action. I will switch to No Flash mode when I don’t want the camera to fire the flash.
As mentioned in my last post I shoot in Aperture Priority mode when using my 35mm prime lens so i can control my f-stop. It also allows me to adjust my the strength of my flash. I have used this when I have been forced to use a forward facing flash and don’t want the harsh lighting of a full-strength flash. This gets a little more complicated but once you are comfortable with your camera in Automatic mode it is a setting worth exploring.
On to the computer
The first thing you need to do is decide how you want to organize your photos. I have done many, many hours of training on photo programs and trust me, the worst thing you can do is start without an organizational plan. You will have pictures all over your computer and never be able to find them. Personally I use Aperture 3, a professional photo editing and management app. If you are using a Mac you already have a great app to get started with, iPhoto. Another good consumer level app is Picasa available for both Mac and PC. Also Adobe make s a pro app, like Aperture, called Lightroom that will work on Mac or PC.
I am going to share a little bit about iPhoto and Aperture because these are the apps I use. I like these apps because they organize your photos in a library file. The library is essentially 1 file that stores all your photos and all the files need for organizing albums, events, slideshows, etc. Many professionals don’t like this because its to restricting, while this a valid argument for professional photographers with vast photo libraries, for the home user and hobbyist, it makes photo management easier. Plus, both have for manual management options but I do not recommend it for most people. With my consulting and support background I have seen countless people erase entire photo libraries from their pictures folder because they think their photos are safe in their favorite photo app like Picasa or even older versions of iPhoto. Only to find out later they erased the photos with no backup.
17,000 photos, 2 little icons
These apps only show you what is in a folder on your computer, as a reference. When you delete the photo form the folder and then launch Picasa, etc you will find a lot of missing photos. If you have emptied your trash the only way to recover your missing photos is if you have a backup. You should ALWAY have a good backup! Maybe that can be a future post. If you use and app like Picasa, DO NOT delete the photos in your Pictures folder, or whatever folder you store your photos in. All 17,000 photos on my computer are represented by 2 icons, my iPhoto library (old photos) and Aperture Library. If I double click the icon it opens the respective application, no harm no foul.
I’m not going to get into organizational methods now but take advantage of the albums, keywords, ratings, face recognition, whatever organizational options you have.
Personally I used iPhoto for years but have upgraded to Aperture when I bought my Nikon D40. If you are working with JPGs iPhoto or Picasa is fine but they aren’t going to handle RAW files as easily as Aperture or Lightroom. For example, when you edit a RAW file in iPhoto it will preserve the original by duplicating the file and saving it as a JPG or TIF, depending on your preferences. This is important because it increases storage requirements. For example my test photo was 6MB then when I made an edit iPhoto automatically made a duplicate JPG that was 2.7MB. So if I make 2 versions of the photos, say one cropped as a 3×6 and one 5×7, I would be using approximately 12MB of space for one photos. This doubles my hard drive requirements for every photo. Multiply this by 1,000′s and of photos and you can see the downside. If you have 5,000 photos, a modest photo library these days, and edit (crop, color adjust, red-eye reduction, etc) two-thirds of them your storage needs would increase. Based on my example above my requirements would go from 30GBs to 40GBs. Now imagine if you have a 12MP camera you can double these numbers.
On the other hand Aperture handles your edits a little different. For every version of the photo you have Aperture only saves the instructions. You can make 7 different versions of 100% of your photos and take up virtually no more hard drive space.
Now to the Editing, almost
Before editing I rate my photos, this way I can weed out the ok photos and only edit my favorites quickly.
Ok now the editing
When I find a photo I like i start with adjusting white balance. Personally I tend to like warm photos, meaning that the white balance is shifted more towards yellow. While this is technically incorrect, visually I like it. While I like it warm, I would still rather have the original correct (or at least close) so I have a good starting point incase I use the photo for a different purpose than my typical photo album or slideshow.
Next on my list: adjust exposure, typically I will bump it up. Then enhance saturation, and shadows and highlights. These are the easiest tools to get started with. There are great tools like curves in pro applications like Aperture or Photoshop that add a lot of power to color adjustments but take a 4 year degree in photo editing to figure out. Generally I don’t use them because they are more complicated. Then on many photos I add a very subtle vignette. If I am going to crop a photo I do this before making adjustments so that way I am making my adjustments only on the part of the photo i am using. Depending on the photo is can make a difference in how you adjust exposure, saturation, etc. Click on the photo to see everything a little larger.
I included a video showing a few editing tips. I know the audio isn’t great but hopefully it’s still helpful.
Another thing I love about Aperture is that I can copy all the changes I made for one image and paste them to another image or a series of images. This allows me to adjust white balance, saturation, etc to one photo then instantly apply it to others, saving a repetitive process that no one likes. It is also very easy to use for a newbie. In contrast to using actions in Photoshop which isn’t as newbie friendly, but what in Photoshop is?
Speaking of Photoshop…
Photoshop is the industry standard for photo manipulation and I don’t see that changing any time soon. However I find myself using it less and less for my photo enhancing. I find other apps, such as the ones mentioned above, easier to use for that purpose. If I have that special photo that I need to do advanced re-touching or manipulation I fire up Photoshop, if not I stick to Aperture. If you don’t want to pump an additional $600 into your photo hobby but need more advanced tools, Photoshop Elements is a great alternative for most home/hobby users, for only $100. I find that I use Photoshop on about 1-5% of my photos. Now if I am designing a greeting card or web graphics, or anything that is more than just a photo, I almost always use Photoshop. Photoshop has its place, but its not always the best or easiest photo editor.
Summary
The cliff notes version of this post: Get ORGANIZED, use an app to help you get organized, use the editing tools of that app for 90% of your photo editing, get Photoshop/Photoshop Elements for the other 10%, enjoy! Oh yeah don’t forget to reserve some time to do this. You didn’t take all your photos in a day and chances are your photo library won’t be organized in a day either. Also learning Photoshop or Photoshop Elements will take countless hours to master. For my final tip, review new photos every six months and weed out the ones you don’t need. In a digital world we take way to many photos of the same thing, but when they are new you want to keep all of them. Waiting helps reduce the emotion tied to your photos and makes it easier to throw some away.
I’ll probably have one more post in this series with some odds and ends that didn’t make it into any of the other posts. If you have any questions just let me know and I will try to answer them in a post.
In part 1 I talked about general photography tips that I have learned over the past few years. Remember I do not have a photography background so I am approaching this from the average joe perspective not a professional’s opinion. Now its on to the equipment.
This is the section where photographers get to brag on their equipment and how much money they have spent. Lindsay and I have been very happy with our camera and the relatively small amount we have invested. As I mentioned earlier I decided on a Nikon. I was looking at entry level camera and it seemed that Nikon offered me the options I wanted at a better price than Canon. At the time the Canon in the same price rage used CompactFlash cards, I knew that I wanted a camera that used SD cards. I knew this was the future of storage, plus i have an SD card reader on my computer. The Nikon’s body was slightly smaller and felt more sturdy. So here it is…
I quickly added a nice case (birthday present) and UV filter to help protect my lens from scratches.
Why did i pick this equipment?
At the time my budget limited me to the D40 or D60. Ultimately I picked the D40 to save some money but also to save hard drive space. The D40 is a 6 megapixel camera, which seems low but hopefully by now you realize more megapixel (MP) is not what is important, as I have written almost 1,000 words without mentioning it. Each photo on my D40 is approximately 5MB. The D60 is a 10MP camera, so each file would be closer to 10MB, almost doubling my space requirements. I work exclusively on notebooks and drive capacity on notebooks is limited, especially two years ago.
I didn’t want to constantly be switching lenses so instead of buying the kit with a 18-55 lens, then adding a 55-22mm lens which you will see is common practice. I purchased the 18-135mm (about x7.5 zoom). Since my original purchase I have upgraded to the AF-S DX NIKKOR 18-105mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR (official name). The upgrade was the added VR (vibration reduction) not the zoom. I was happy with my original lens but wanted the VR feature when shooting at the tele end of the range.
The 18mm is the wide angle, 18mm is about as wide as you can get on a budget and great for trying to capture a room in tight quarters. If you only have one lens you want to make sure it will go down to 18mm or less. The 105mm is the telephoto length. This is about a 7x zoom in digital terms. If had the extra cash I would have purchased the Nikon 18-200mm lens. But overall I am very pleased with my lens.
I also purchased the entry level flash, the Nikon SB-400. I hate how built-in flash illuminates photos. It is a small flash but lets me angle my flash 90° so I can bounce it off the ceiling when shooing indoors (when you usually need a flash).
Then I bought a 4Gb San Disk Ultra III card, that came with a little SD card reader. At the time it was the best I could get and it holds about 600 photos so I don’t really need anything larger. I have backup up 2GB and 1GB cards that I use in other devices that I have used once or twice in a pinch. If you get a fast camera, make sure to get a fast SD card to go with it.
Additional Equipment
As mentioned above I have replaced my lens with a newer model. I used the money from selling my original lens at Gazelle.com to purchase a prime (or fixed) lens. So a few weeks ago I bought my new lens for $7!
That lens was the Nikon AF-S DX NIKKOR35mm f/1.8G. I bought it at Wolf Camera for $200. Having a f-stop of 1.8 is a little bit of photography heaven for me. When using this lens I switch to Aperture priority mode, the A (or Av on Canon cameras) on your camera dial. This allows me to have manual control on the f-stop. If you shoot in Automatic it will almost never go below f4. (On a side note: Lindsay always shoots in Automatic and I do for the majority of my photos, only changing the focus mode).
Notice how the chair is out of focus behind the little man as well as his fist in front. This brings your focus to Joshua’s cute but messy face. If it was take at, say, f4 his fist would be in focus and distracting from the desired subject.
After using a folded index cards as a bounce card for my flash for a year, Lindsay got me the Flip It! 400 from Demb Flash Products for a nicer looking bounce card. This allows you to bounce flash off the card when shooting portrait or outside. It also allows for 2 light sources it you angle it right indoors to get the ceiling bounce and card bounce. While it seemed expensive to me, it is worth it.
Future Equipment
Really am happy with my setup but in Photography there are always things on your wish list. I would like to upgrade my camera to the new Nikon D5000 that is 12megapixel, but more importantly shoots HD video, has a swivel lcd to help at difficult angles, and 11 focus points (verses 3 on my D40). I really don’t need more camera than that. I would also add a third, more powerful lens, like a 70-300mm. Once the boys start playing t-ball or other sports I will need this lens! Unfortunately this is still several years away so Lindsay isn’t buying it as a valid reason to buy another lens, yet.
Final Camera Advise
My final piece of advice is to get a camera that fits your budget and you like how it feels. Ask friends and family member what camera they have and how they like it, the pros and cons. I am not a Nikon or Canon guy, I happened to find that I personally like Nikon cameras but I know many people that love their Canon cameras. Maybe one day I will have a Canon, who knows. They both make great cameras. When purchasing a camera, I follow a general rule of thumb to buy from a camera company, meaning a company that has a long photography background and a large focus on imaging. Obviously that leads to the likes of Nikon and Canon. This doesn’t mean that other companies don’t make great cameras, its just my personal opinion and preference.
As many photographers say, “the best camera is the camera you have with you.”
Tell me what camera you have, why you picked it and what you like (or don’t like) about it.
Look for part 3 next week. I will write about some editing tips for your photos.
Well I thought one day I would talk about my camera because its a growing hobby of mine, but today a friend asked me about what camera I use. She has a brand new baby and wants great looking pictures and she noticed thy my pictures look nice. So here is my answer to her, with way more info than she bargained for when she asked, “what camera do you use?”
Background
A month before our first son was born I convinced Lindsay we needed a nice camera, I don’t know if it was as much convincing as “trust me we need a new camera, you will thank me later so I am going to get it” statement To clarify I had done some offers for free stuff online and had collected $400 and then had the balance saved from a bonus, we didn’t starve for a month or have the lights turned off because of the camera.
1) The Camera
I did my research and decided on an entry Nikon DSLR (digital single-lens relfex). To the non-photographer a DSLR does a few things that I wanted. It lets me change lens and shoots in RAW format. RAW is your digital negative. If your camera shoots jpeg, then the camera has already processed the image. If you don’t have a photography background (like me) then this probably doesn’t mean much to you, but trust me its better. While a DSLR camera can shoot jpeg, you are missing out on some of great things about a DSLR. Perhaps the clincher for Lindsay half-way approving this purchase was startup time and shutter response. Our point-and-shoot camera was SLOOOWWWWW. With kids I knew this would be an issue and Lindsay agreed, this was the deal clincher! Note: All photos are unedited, except cropping, I plan on talking about editing later.
A lot can happen in 1 second. Be ready with a fast camera! Don’t rely on the spec sheet, test it in a store or read a real world review. You will notice that the printed specs mean nothing. Capture the moment, not the moment after…
2) The Lens
A good lens is in the eye of the beholder. Different lenses excel at different types of photography. I recommend a good, everyday lens that has a decent focal range (zoom) Nikon makes several, the 18-135mm (approx x7.5), 18-105mm (approx x7), or 18-200mm (approx x11). So you need to pay attention to the focal length, but also the f-stop. At least this is important for me, I love a shallow depth of field. The smaller the f-stop number the shallower (is that a word?) your depth of field is. Here are 2 examples, the photos aren’t the best, they show the difference (the red water was part of their Easter present).
To see the difference look at the background. Notice how blurred and out of focus the bathtub and water is. The easiest place to see it is at the water line. That is a difference in the f-stop. It also allows more light in so you can get better photos in lower light.
3) The Flash
To put it simple, your camara’s built-in flash is trash. Built-in flash is too close to the lens and always pointing straight at your subject. A DSLR will let you add a flash that can be bounced of the ceiling or off a bounce card. This will result in much better photos in less than perfect lighting. As you grow in your photography knowledge, the right lens AND right settings can reduce your need for a flash. That is something I am working on so for now our flash is almost always on. Along with better photos, an external flash also reduces the drain on your camera’s battery! I never run out of battery power, with out scientific proof to back this up, I would guess that we take between 500-600 photos between chargers. The flash runs on 2 AA rechargeable batteries. As a side note during my test photos, I noticed that Joshua was always in the middle of blinking in almost every shot with the direct flash. These photos show the external flash bouncing off the ceiling, the built-in flash, and no flash.
You should be able to notice a stark difference between the two flash options. The built-in, direct flash produces harsh highlights (not to mention the red eye and blinks). While the no flash photo actually looks pretty good, it is noticeably darker and is at a higher ISO, thus having greater potential for grain/noise in the photo. Typically ISO 800 is ok, but 1600 shows very noticeable noise.
So that is the basics of my experiences. I realize there is a ton more about photography but those are a few of my quick tips. I still haven’t answered the original question. My next post will talk more about specific equipment on a budget.
Let’s just say that coming home and having to cook has been less than thrilling! I couldn’t resist taking a few pictures….try not to drool on your computer!
