I really enjoy photography. Back when I was in high school I was the news paper photographer and worked in the dark room there developing all my own photos. I loved it. To this day I can still identify the smell of stop wash. When I moved up to the bay area and switched schools I made the attempt to continue my path but sadly was blocked from this due to how things were handled at the new school. Because of this I ended up switching gears and really got into Drama. A part of me really yearned to get back into photography but time and money constraints have never been with me. Over the years I have picked up various point and shoot cameras, both film based and digital. I kind of made a point to always have some sort of camera on me, just in case a shot needed taking. And of course any time I would process my photos, or even look at other photos from friends, I would dream of the time I could afford to pick up a DSLR and get back into it.
Recently, and you may know, I have switched jobs and had an opportunity to take a step forward on this pipe dream. I decided that I would start combing the pawn shops and craigslists to see if I could find a good, inexpensive, camera. Well, one thing I learned really quick is that there are no good cheap DSLR cameras. The other month, fate made the decision for me and I found a Nikon D3000 at a local pawn shop. Infer a brief haggling exchange, I managed to pick it up for a very decent price. Thus it was decided that I would be a Nikon guy. I soon learned that the D3000 was a fairly good starter camera, which worked great for me since I was re-learning all over again.
My D3000 didn’t come with the standard stock zoom lens. Instead I got really lucky and it was paired with a 35mm 1.8 Nikkor lens. (roughly a $200 bonus). I picked up a starter book and set about framing my head with F-stops and shutter speeds. I was amazed at how fast I was able to fall back into the routine and stop using the auto settings. I pretty much only shoot in manual mode and make sure that I shoot a few shots of each subject with varying settings. I have been really impressed with the d3000 as far as guiding me through the learning process. It shoots great shots for a starter camera and was easy to learn.
Now, that said, the D3000 also has quite a few limitations. For a modern day DSLR, the 10mp is kind of low. Also, while most of the settings are great for the beginner, it’s lacking some of the more advanced options. Some simple video recording would have been nice too. The nice thing is that there is an opportunity to grow eventually when I need up upgrade, I can just look into a new body and retire this one.
If you would like to check out some of my photos, you can view most of them in my gallery.
You can also find me on Flickr.
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