This remains one of my favorite shots even though it is one of my first.
I was interested in photography since I was a small boy and Nikon and Canon SLR cameras were on display at the department stores. I would fawn over the cameras and their esoteric controls. My father's response to my pleading was simple and understandable (now) "If you can explain what the buttons do and how the camera works I'll get you one, but not until then." The internet was still in its infancy and I wasn't even a teenager yet so the requisite knowledge was not forthcoming and I eventually gave up on a parentally subsidized camera and saving my allowance for over a year to buy one myself was simply out of the question.
I enjoyed taking pictures with my cell phones for years but never took the leap into buying my own dedicated camera because in the back of my head I always knew that "one day..."
I finally decided I could afford to take the plunge and started researching, I spent months figuring out how to get the best click for my buck when I discovered an online retailer with a great price for a very respectable Nikon D3200. I jumped on it and simultaneously ordered accessories from a few other sites. By the next day the accessories started arriving; filters sized to the kit lens, a carbon fiber tripod, Lowepro backpack specially designed for cameras and their accessories, a spare battery, I even had a 500mm (exceptionally cheap) lens... but no camera... 7 days... 1 month... 6 weeks... I finally gave up hope and canceled the order because the retailer kept pushing back the ETA.
I had everything I needed to start taking pictures except for the camera so I went into a local camera shop and picked up the best I could afford with what I had left and walked out with a used Nikon D3000.
My first few shots were hampered by the 500mm's inability to focus. But even so I took the time to familiarize myself with the camera and its controls. At this point I can explain what every button does and how to use a D3000 to its maximum potential.
Fortunately it was only a week before I found a lovely Nikkor 35mm f/1.8 on Craigslist that came with several filters and since both the new lens and the originally planned kit lens have 52mm filter threads I was able to also use the filters I had already purchased.
At the time I was cycling exclusively and I picked up the new lens a couple towns away. On the ride back to Dayton I stopped in a park and started playing with my new setup.
In addition to the first image "Hanging on the Shore" here are a few more shots I took that first day with my first usable lens.
I was interested in photography since I was a small boy and Nikon and Canon SLR cameras were on display at the department stores. I would fawn over the cameras and their esoteric controls. My father's response to my pleading was simple and understandable (now) "If you can explain what the buttons do and how the camera works I'll get you one, but not until then." The internet was still in its infancy and I wasn't even a teenager yet so the requisite knowledge was not forthcoming and I eventually gave up on a parentally subsidized camera and saving my allowance for over a year to buy one myself was simply out of the question.
I enjoyed taking pictures with my cell phones for years but never took the leap into buying my own dedicated camera because in the back of my head I always knew that "one day..."
I finally decided I could afford to take the plunge and started researching, I spent months figuring out how to get the best click for my buck when I discovered an online retailer with a great price for a very respectable Nikon D3200. I jumped on it and simultaneously ordered accessories from a few other sites. By the next day the accessories started arriving; filters sized to the kit lens, a carbon fiber tripod, Lowepro backpack specially designed for cameras and their accessories, a spare battery, I even had a 500mm (exceptionally cheap) lens... but no camera... 7 days... 1 month... 6 weeks... I finally gave up hope and canceled the order because the retailer kept pushing back the ETA.
I had everything I needed to start taking pictures except for the camera so I went into a local camera shop and picked up the best I could afford with what I had left and walked out with a used Nikon D3000.
My first few shots were hampered by the 500mm's inability to focus. But even so I took the time to familiarize myself with the camera and its controls. At this point I can explain what every button does and how to use a D3000 to its maximum potential.
Fortunately it was only a week before I found a lovely Nikkor 35mm f/1.8 on Craigslist that came with several filters and since both the new lens and the originally planned kit lens have 52mm filter threads I was able to also use the filters I had already purchased.
At the time I was cycling exclusively and I picked up the new lens a couple towns away. On the ride back to Dayton I stopped in a park and started playing with my new setup.
In addition to the first image "Hanging on the Shore" here are a few more shots I took that first day with my first usable lens.
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