As I’ve mentioned, there are many benefits of purchasing a camera through a local store. One of the benefits provided through the store that I purchased my camera from was that they also provided free classes for new camera purchases.
Okay, I know what you’re thinking… you’re thinking that these sound too boring and basic. I am here to correct this perception. I also felt this way, but to my great surprise, these classes taught me some new things about digital photography, and also reminded about other things like “how to shoot a better photo”.
I’ve mentioned before that my interests in photography are less technical and more artistically based. As a result, I feel that you can take a great photo with any type of camera, whether it be a disposable camera or a top of the line Leica.
I don’t mean to create a mini-sermon here, but if you’re going to take great photos, you need to learn how to work with the tools at hand and the challenges in place, in order to capture the best photograph at that point in time.
Okay, so enough of that.., what I was reminded of in class was how NOT to shoot a photograph with the subject ALWAYS in the middle of the photograph. Basic as this sound, it’s really is a natural tendency to shoot a photo this way. We all think that things should be perfectly centered in order to create that great photo.
This is where the “Rule of Thirds” comes into play. I had learned about this a while back in a college class, but haven’t really thought much more about it since then, although I think I unconsciously use it when I take a picture.
Rule of Thirds Grid
What it basically is, is a technique to use when you are “framing your subject”. What it does is to provide you with a guideline that will produce more interesting photos.
So, instead of continually positioning your subject in the middle of your viewfinder, you position it on a imaginary grid broken up into thirds. This technique really serves more as a reminder to us that we should learn to position our main subjects off-center, within the viewfinder.
Rule of Thirds Before
Let’s look at an example of a typical photo taken by someone with a camera. What we have here is a picture of our subject which has been perfectly centered within the frame of the photo, from top to bottom and left to right.
It’s a very static photo without much going on and is a good picture of our subject, but it doesn’t really provide any additional information that could make this photo just a bit more interesting.
Rule of Thirds After
Here’s the exact same setting, except that we have now back away from the subject and have aligned our main subject off-center, pretty much one third from the right and one third from the top.
You can see that what has happened now is that we have a little bit more detail about this moment in time. Although the subject is a bit smaller within the frame, we can now see her hands and more about the surroundings that she is seated.
- Rule of Thirds Final
Here’s the final photo without grid lines. You can see much more detail now. What I like about the wider view is that you can also see a little statue of a bashful angle in front of the fireplace and some additional design and character. It’s just a more interesting photo because we have employed the “Rule of Thirds”.
We’ll go into more things that I learned from the class I took at my local photo store. If your store does not provide these, you might want to check into classes provided through your local community center.
Source: Digital Camera Notebook
We all know that the internet is a great place to find discounted prices for products, but I have to tell you, I’ve found some true advantages to buying products from local merchants.
I’ve long believed in the internet when it comes to using it as a tool for research on products or other things of interest. It just can’t be beat in this area. The main issue with doing research on the internet though, is that you need to pay close attention to who the source of that information is and whether or not they have any biases one way or another. I’ve learned to trust little I read, unless I’m familiar with the source or there is enough evidence to backup what that source is saying.
In the case of my new camera though, I decided to do my research online in order to find out what was out there in terms of cameras. I was primarily interested in camera reviews and trends in camera technologies. One really valuable online resource that I referred to was dpreview.com.
A friend had told me about this site a while back and it’s stuck in the back of my mind ever since. It’s just great to be able to read about what cameras people like and dislike, as well as features they wish had been included, etc. You can learn a ton from online forums.
My plan though was to buy my camera from a local store who – in the future – would be there to help me resolve issues with my camera or answer questions about it. I really did not want to buy online and then maybe have to ship it back to an online store if I had a problem.
This turned out to be the right decision for a couple of reasons. First, a good local camera store knows that their pricing needs to be competitive with online pricing. In terms of my camera, the difference in online pricing and what my local store was asking turned out to be negligible.
A second advantage to buying from local camera store was the fact that they also offered free classes in how to use your new camera. This turned out to be a huge bonus and the instruction was much better than I anticipated.
Valued at $40 per class, I decided to sign up for two of the classes they offered for using a digital SLR camera. These classes were not only taught by a photographer, they also followed a very tight two and half hour curriculum. There were some really helpful tips that I learned that no one has ever told me about in the past, even in the photography classes that I had back in college.
The neat thing about these classes was that they encouraged everyone to bring their cameras to class. If there was a feature or button on a camera that someone didn’t understand, the instructor could show them how it all worked.
The Nikon manual that came with my camera kept referring to a button simply marked as a <i>. For the life of me, I could not figure how this worked on my camera. They showed the location of <i> in the manual, but it only worked in certain shooting modes. I took my camera into class, and within seconds I had my answer…
I’ll review the main points that I learned in class in upcoming topics, but just suffice it to say that I was very glad that I had decided to buy my new digital camera from my favorite local camera store, rather than to make my purchase online where it might take a day or two to get an email reply.
Source: Digital Camera Notebook
After all of my research, I am now psyched to get a new camera in the digital age. I will admit that I move pretty slowly on decisions like this. I mean really slow… I just got my first Apple iPod last Christmas and am still moving my favorite music to it… but back to our subject here.
I brought my new camera home that same afternoon (I suppose that would make some sense, eh?). The one thing that I had not done was to tell my dearly beloved was that I was going to spend about $800 for my camera (camera, plus one more lens, a 55-200mm zoom).
I got home from the camera store and quietly tucked my new digital camera away in a downstairs closet until I could figure out a way to break the news to my wife. I went back upstairs, made lunch, and waited for my wife to return home from her weekend errands.
She finally returned, with shopping bags in hand and proclaimed, “I just found some clothes that I love! Let me show you!”. This typically does not happen often. My wife has a very hard time finding fun clothes because she is about 5′-1/8″ feet tall.
Anyways, she pulled out everything she had bought, tried it on and showed it off to me. I was secretly thinking to myself “my god, she’s spent about $800 dollars on new clothes”. “Man, she really went to town this time.” Then an “ahaaa!” went off in my head. “She’s spent $800 and I’ve spent $800… It’s a wash.”
I had some faith in my knowledge of clothing costs, so I was pretty confident about my numbers. “Honey”, I said, “I absolutely love what you’ve picked out,” (which I really did) ”they are all very becoming and I think you’ve done really well.” I waited for a reply from her…
I was hoping that she would agree. You know, as a spouse, this can become a very touchy moment in time. Some spouses in this situation might respond with a “you know, I’m just not sure that I really like it. Do you really like it?”, as if they need reassurance. Obviously, I was really hoping that I could tell her about my $800 camera purchase without having her flip out.
But her response to my original compliment was “I really like these as well. I think I did pretty well today.” This was all I needed. I knew she was happy with her purchase… I also knew that what she had picked out was indeed good looking. But I wasn’t ready to tell her about MY $800 purchase yet. I wanted her to enjoy the moment a bit more.
About five minutes later, I sprung the news to her. “Honey”, I said. “I had a great day myself.” “Oh really? What did you do?” she responded.
“Well, you know how that old film camera that we have doesn’t seem to work anymore?” I asked. “Yes”, she responded. “Well I decided that we needed a new camera”. “Oh, really.”, she commented. “Yes, I need a new camera because we are missing too many key moments in time and our point and shoot camera just isn’t working out anymore. ”
A long pause… “and, so I’ve bought a new camera”. “Oh really”, this was less of a question from my beloved. “Yup, I bought a Nikon D40, it is a highly rated camera that is going to last us for long period of time”. “What did it cost?” she quickly asked. I paused, “Ummm, about $800″.
I waited for her to pass out, and then I waited a bit longer. “That’s good” she said. Oh my god, I couldn’t believe it. It worked, I just spent $800 and my wife responded with a simple “That’s good”.
“Thank you Lord”, I said to myself, “I’ll never sin again”. It worked and I was excited. I went downstairs and grabbed my new camera “out-of-the closet”, brought it back upstairs and proudly showed it off to my wife. She loved it, thought it was great and was very happy for me.
It was a great day. Not only did I finally get a decent camera, my wife also found some clothing that she really liked and we were both happy with the final outcome.
More Tips For Buying a Digital Camera
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Source: Digital Camera Notebook
Digital Day 2008 (or D-Day as it might be)… I begin my digital camera research. (hey, I know it’s November, but I’m just getting everyone up to speed here). D-Day was THE day where the planets aligned interms of deciding to make a purchase of my first Digital SLR Camera.
I woke in the morning, grabbed a cup of coffee and started to read the paper. Pretty much the same headlines, the same news, the same stories. There was really nothing new to report on in the world, but then I turned a page in the sports section and there it was. One of my favorite local camera stores (National Camera Exchange) was running an ad for a three day “Digital Camera Sale”. It was music to my ears…
This was really all of an excuse I needed to start researching Digital SLR Cameras. The challenge was that I had no idea what to buy or even look for. I set the paper down and opened my laptop to begin my research online. I typed “digital camera” into Google and came up with millions of pages. Obviously this was not going to be a productive approach.
I then remembered the name of a web site that once came highly recommended by a co-worker. The site was www.dpreview.com. It’s a great camera site, with a ton of product reviews and an active user forum to get different viewpoints from. I knew what my budget was… basically I was shooting for an average to slightly above average SLR in the $400-600 range.
One camera that was mentioned over and over again at www.dpreview.com was the Canon Rebel. I don’t recall the exact model number, but it was basically in the $600 range.
Minolta XG1
I should back up a bit here. To be perfectly honest, I really didn’t want to spend even $1 on a new camera until I made sure that my old film camera was truly past it’s prime and couldn’t be resurrected (history to come). My old film camera was a Minolta XG1 which had served me well. Over several years I had managed to add a couple of lenses and several filters to it. In total I probably had about $1000 invested in this camera. It would have been shame to at least not try to give it one more chance so it became part of the decision process.
What I did on D-Day was to gather up my old equipment, complete with lenses and filters, and head off to my favorite camera shop for some expert advice. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect, but I knew that I wanted to discuss options in person with a knowledgeable salesman.
This store was pretty busy with the sale going on and all. There must have been at least 15 sales people tending to a long line of customers. I wanted to find a sales person who looked like they knew what they were talking about. Fortunately they all looked this way and were more “mature” than you would find in a “big box store”. All looked like avid photographers, so I knew I was in luck.
I stood at the counter and waited for an open sales person. I hoisted my old camera bag onto the counter when my time came and asked the sales person if this camera was worth keeping in the new digital age. He looked me squarely in the eye and pretty much convinced me that my film camera’s days were over. He also mentioned that I wouldn’t be able use any of the lenses with a digital camera. It honestly had a similar feel as if being told that my dog needed to be put down or that I had lost an old cherished friend.
I took a deep breath and told him that if this was the case, I wanted to look at the Canon Rebel. He brought out the Rebel as well as one other camera, the Nikon D40. The Canon was about $200 more than the Nikon, but the salesman claimed that the quality and features of both were comparable.
Nikon D40
He did mention me that Canons are typically higher priced than Nikons because of the advertising that Canon does. He also mentioned that the Nikon lens that came with the D40 was higher quality than the lens that came with the Canon Rebel. I then asked my standard salesman question, “if you were personally looking for a camera in this price range, which would you choose?”. He told me the Nikon, and didn’t flinch an eye. That was all I needed. I was in a store I respected and speaking to someone who knew cameras.
The D40 it was then. I ponied up to the cash registered, handed over my card, paid for my brand new Digital SLR camera and headed out the door into the new digital camera age.
Source: Digital Camera Notebook
“…as he stood at the edge of the ocean, with the bright blue sky above and a brisk breeze pushing waves onto the shoreline up to his toes, he wondered to himself, “why haven’t a purchased a digital camera before, so that can capture moments like this?”
– from an autobiography to be published
And that’s where it all started for me. There I was, on vacation in Provincetown, MA holding a digital point and click camera in one hand and thinking to myself “What am I doing?”. Why didn’t I have a true SLR Digital Camera in my hand, with tripod, that would have given me a better opportunity to capture the magnificent surroundings that I saw.
Provincetown, MA
One will never know I guess. I bought my digital point and click about three years ago. It’s a Canon Power Shot A85 which really wasn’t all that cheap, but it just wasn’t working well for me. In the past I’ve missed some great moments because of it.
The photo here was taken this camera and I suppose the photot looks okay, but I just wasn’t happy with the results.
I just wanted to be able to take a picture with a camera that provided more control over quality and picture sharpness.
That’s basically how I got to where I am today and I owe my new understanding to Provincetown, MA. What a great place to visit. As a side note, if you ever have the desire to go there, I highly recommend going right after Labor Day when the crowds are smaller and the wait lines at some of the great restaurants they have - shorter.
Provincetown really triggered my desire to get back into photography. It’s been a while since I last had that interest, but I’m back with vengeance now. If you have any recent events that reignited your interest in photography, I’d love to hear about them with a comment.
Source: Digital Camera Notebook
Welcome to the Digital Camera Notebook. This site is devoted to all of you latecomers to the world of digital photography and cameras, which – by the way – also includes me. I’m going to try to take a very light-hearted approach here and will hopefully amuse and possibly enlighten.
In the Fall 2008 I decided that I really needed something a bit more serious than a simple point-and-shoot digital camera. I really have nothing against these types of cameras, except that I honestly found them to be too difficult to use. They are a bit set in there ways and if you were in a low light situation or sporting event, it was almost impossible to get great results.
All of this started when my wife and I visited the beautiful port city of Provincetown, MA in September. The weather was beautiful, the ocean blue and the sky constantly changing. There I was in such a beautiful location with only my simple point and shoot camera, a Canon Power Shot A85.
I made the best of it though. I learned a long time ago that a camera is only part of the story behind a great photo. You also need to be in the right place at the right time and a sharp eye for what other would normally ignore.
What I’ll be doing here is taking you along on my journey into the world of SLR Digital Cameras. I won’t always make the right move or purchase, but maybe we can all learn from the process. I am definitly not one of those people who constantly needs to exude their wisdom and knowledge. But, there seems to be a ton to learn, regardless of scattered past with film photography.
With all of this said, I’m going to get started in the next day or two with some stories and adventures into the world of Digital Cameras. See you soon!
