Blame Canada!

Today I was joking on my FAVORITE photography forum, http://www.nikon-digital.com when some posted something that truly made me think about what I was doing at the forum and the value that I may or may not be adding. The poster said:

I am of the firm opinion that a post such as

shouldn’t count as a post.

Come on you Post-Whores, write something significant.

Give an opinion, post a writeup concerning some photographic technique, give a reasoned photo critique, tell us about yourself (as a photogapher or other), tell us how you did it, tell us what you really think, etc

He may or may not have been joking, but I took away something positive from what he said, and reminded myself that although photography is fun, and I’m making some great new friends, I cannot loose site of the goal and the reason that I purchased my camera. I am grateful for the reminder.

I’m learning a lot in Canada. The people are kind, fun and friendly. The photographers that I have come to refer to as my friends produce great photos for me to study. They may not know this, but I’m learning a lot by ‘watching’ them.

The lens information that I’m picking up in Canada is great! I think that after I get my 70-200 f/2.8 I’ll be able to slow down a bit and focus less on my tool acquisition and more on my next big venture: LIGHT!

I’m slowly getting there with understanding light. I think that it’s fair to say that I’ve spent most of this first camera year learning Camera Language, Photographer Personalities, Purpose and Composition. My Camera Vision has gotten better as a result. So yes, the next step, and hopefully it won’t take an entire year, will be LIGHT!

I Need A Few Things…….

I’m always on the hunt for new gear. Why? Well, other than the fact that I’m a girl and like to shop, there are a couple of items that I truly need. For starters, I need a real tripod. Yeah, yeah, I’ve posted about that before. Can you believe that I still haven’t found one? This is going to take some special snooping and research. I can’t just purchase any old tripod. Given my past experience with my BestBuy grade tripod, I now know two things: I need a ball head and the legs need to be uber-steady. The hard part is finding a tripod that will accommodate my growing passion. My tripod doesn’t have to be carbon fiber. Although I wouldn’t mind if it came in pink. Yes, pink would be nice.

Ok, bear with me a second as I need to talk about something that I don’t understand. I often read photographers writing “It feels good in my hands,” when explaining how they chose a piece of equipment. Quite honestly, I don’t understand it. Fried chicken feels good in my hands, too, but that’s not how I decide whether or not I’m going to eat it. Sorry couldn’t resist. But seriously, I don’t get it. I chose my camera based on price and what little I understood about cameras in general. I also wanted to be somewhere between the ranks of ‘enthusiast’ and ‘I can make some money with this’.

So what else do I need? I need a chick bag. I want a bag that looks and functions like a purse to carry my stuff. I’m getting closer and closer to purchasing a bag and making inserts. I’m thinking it’s going to be the way to get to exactly what I want.

I also need a lens that gives me f/2.8. Ideally, I’d like to have the Nikon 70-200 f/2.8 but I’m leaning towards the Sigma version. Why? Because I am still too new to justify the price. Hubby says he’ll get me the Nikon, but I want it now and not around Christmas, Mother’s Day, Easter or any other holiday he’ll use as a gift excuse.

A Different Level of ‘SUCK’

And so it hits me. Today I started rummaging through old pictures. Well they weren’t exactly old, well in dog years perhaps, but they were taken back in May 2009. What a difference a few months can make to one’s photographic abilities! I felt ill when I looked at the photos. They were supposed to represent the fun time the ole man and I had in Miami during bike week. Yeah, we had a blast, but DAYUM those pictures suck unmercifully!

Well, my photography has since evolved from being appreciated by those who only read braille, to those classified as legally blind. I’m actually getting better. I’ve picked up another lens, too: Sigma 70-300 DG Macro. It’s pretty kewl! Did you know that you will get a fEE error on your D90 if when applying an older Sigma lens the aperture ring is not set to the smallest aperture? Don’t ask me how I know. Just trust me on this one.

The upside is that I have a better understanding of what’s going on.