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Taking the plunge…
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Firstly, I am new to this site but have enjoyed reading quite a few posts and have noticed a fair bit of expertise kicking around here.
My first SLR was a Minolta X-300 which I bought about 23 years ago with my first student grant check (I starved for the rest of the term). It still works perfectly but has been largely gathering dust for the last 10 years. I next bought a Sony Camcorder, great for holidays and filming my son’s toddler days. My third camera was a Nikon P5 Coolpix which I picked up in Argentina somewhat impulsively before boarding a boat – I had no camera with me at the time. It’s a handy little point ‘n press and has produced some nice, dare I say it ‘stunning’, shots – especially ice landscapes. Recently, on hike in WIcklow with a friend, I brushed aside his big cannon digital SLR and accompanying clumsy bag of lenses, stating that a good point and pray was perfectly adequate for scenic shots as long as you put something in the foreground. My ill thought comment resulted in a mini unofficial photo competition that day, the result of which finally convinced me that I talk a lot of nonsense and indeed needed to splash out on a decent digital camera.
So I’ve just bought a Nikon D5000, with kit 18-55 lens, a UV filter and some LCD screen protective thingies. I opted for this camera because I’m not a professional photographer by far and I’m pragmatic enough to assume I never will be. I just want to take good shots, recognise I tend to take awkward shots and will need the fold out viewfinder, want the quality capability of a D90 and/or D300 but without the price and finally the ability to pop off the odd small vid clip when my son is up to his antics.
I know I’ll need a longer lens at some point; I also have a penchant for low light shots so will need a 1.8f sometime too. And then there’s the bag, the polarizing filters, maybe a blue filter for B&W landscapes, a remote commander, a tripod and and and….well you get the picture. But first, I just want to familiarise myself with it’s intricacies, get to know it’s personality so to speak. Then later I can start checking out the extra bits.
I have a copy of photoshop Elements but have always taken the view that anything other than basic image tidying up is, well, not really in the spirit of things. I know this is a controversial position but I genuinely do believe that if you didn’t see it through the lens then it didn’t happen. It’s for this reason I hate colour filtered skies too. I’m sorry.
Oh and one more thing, I really dislike taking pictures of people…unless their face is lacerated by age and they naturally wear black and white attire.
So, that’s the size of it. At least it’s honest. And I hope you’ll accept me to the fold.
It takes all sorts to make a world and wouldnt it be a boring place if we were all the same,
welcome to the site and I hope you enjoy being part of this very diverse community :)
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