I spent most of this evening reading this book, Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson. I recommend it. It provides great explanations of aperture, shutter speed, and ISO settings with examples of how you can balance the three in order to get great photos. My copy is courtesy of the Salt Lake County Library, but this is a book I'd like to have in my collection.
I recently moved to Eagle Mountain, where we are fortunate to have a wonderful view of the sunrise each morning. Most mornings I am in a hurry to get to work and don't take the time to take a photo. The problem with taking a photo is that I have never found an optimal location to take it from.
So, I went exploring. I took this on Sunday when I took my wife to show her the perfect location to shoot the sunrise. It was 3:30 in the afternoon, but at least now I know where to go. Oh, and it takes 4 wheel drive to get there.
-- Nikon D80, 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 lens, 1/250 at f/10, 18mm
This is me, kicking it on a Friday night.
-- Nikon D80, 50mm f/1.8 lens, 1/13 at f/4.0, 50mm
This is another model from our photowalk. She was really fun to shoot. She kept posing differently and came up with some creative stuff. It worked great for a noob like myself.
-- Nikon D80, 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 lens, 1/200 at f/9.0, 38mm
Andrew was one of the few models that asked me what he should do at a recent "photowalk." I didn't know what to tell him, so I kept telling him different moods. This was "pissed off."
-- Nikon D80, 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 lens, 1/125 at f/7.1, 50mm
I first saw this model as she was rapidly approaching me in a bright blue, freshly washed BMW Z3. This coat from the window was unmissable. Fortunately for me, I the car missed ME as the driver saw me right before my legs were taken out from under me. Lesson learned: look both ways.
-- Nikon D80, 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 lens, 1/100 at f9.0, 80mm
This is my first shot at taking a studio portrait. This took place as part of a photo "walk" at the Gateway Community Church in Draper, Utah. Instead of walking outside, we walked amongst various studio setups.
I got a few shots while Missy was waiting and frankly looking a little bored. The mood worked though and I kept shooting, ending with with several great shots. Here is one.
-- Nikon D80, 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 lens, 1/100 at f9.0, 135mm
-- Nikon D80, 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 lens, 1/60 at f3.5, 18mm
I wanted to take a few photos to remember the holidays in our new house. I snapped a few shots and thought I was being fairly careful. I knew that I had some lighting issues, but forged ahead anyway. After loading the photos on the computer, I noticed the appearance of some Guitar Hero and Sony Playstation boxes. I guess this photo will remind me about the holidays more than I thought?
-- Nikon D80, 50mm f/1.8 lens, 1/2 at f/1.8, 50mm
Every year my wife and I purchase new ornaments for the Christmas tree. I try to choose some that is representative of my life for the year. I've spent much of the past year learning about photography and selecting a dSLR. I chose the Nikon D80 and believe it or not, this is the closest thing I could find to a D80. I picked this ornament out of the vast selection at Gardner Village.
Another funny thing about this picture is that this is one of two ornaments on the tree. Since we just moved into a new home and weren't around for Christmas anyway, we only put the 2 new ornaments on the tree!
-- Nikon D80, 50mm f/1.8 lens, 1/60 at f/2.8, 50mm
I'm going to come right out and say that this is not my best photo ever. It probably isn't even close. The honest truth is that I have a goal to post a photo each day and it is 11:32 pm and I am scrambling. There are some lessons that I learned while shooting these tonight and even though I don't like how they turned out, it's worth posting about. I'd be glad to hear comments/corrections from anyone.
Time of day: I was originally trying to capture both the mountain as well as the lights of the city. The mountain was coming out too dark, so I decided to include the street light and the city. If I had attempted this several hours earlier, I think I could have gotten decent lighting on the mountain as well as plenty of lights in the city. Stay tuned for that.
Equipment: Though they aren't the best, I think that my camera and lens can achieve my desired result. My biggest issue today was with the tripod. I liked the perspective I was seeing from my eye, but I can't get my tripod to go that high. I ended up climbing a flight of stairs and trying again. I got closer, but still did not achieve the same vantage point as my eye. Also, I ran out of stairs.
Patience: Practice, practice, practice. With enough patience, hopefully I will learn.
-- Nikon D80, 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 lens, 30 at f12.0, 52mm
-- Nikon D80, 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 lens, 1/320 at f9.0, 32mm
I've been inspired by many of you out there that are posting photos daily. I look forward to reading these blogs on a daily basis. I'm a beginning photographer and received a Nikon D80 for Christmas, so I am starting a blog of my own. This will be my venue to "contribute to the world" in the form a near-daily photo. Feel free to comment/critique my photos as I'd love to get some feedback and improve my technique.
I'm starting with a photo I took Christmas morning. In retrospect, I should have placed this on something other than a white robe, but it was Christmas morning and I was excited to try my 1.8 50mm lens. I like the effect of of the Christmas tree in the background.
-- Nikon D80, 50mm f/1.8 lens, 1/6 at f1.8, 50mm
