Post your photography skills! (self-gloss)

Nice pics Brian, my Nikon D70's coming next week, you'll have competition. Jk, I'm really a noob at photography, the 2 lenses I got are Nikon 50mm 1.8 and Nikon 24-85mm 3.5 4.5

Cricket

One of these days I should try to learn something about photography. I cannot even say I am self-taught. I simply go out with a camera and bring back some images. All nine of the image sets in the following three posts here were made with film cameras. Either our Nikon N65 35mm SLR or our trusty little Olympus μ 35mm point and shoot were used for all of these submissions.

Mrs. FC's complaints about all of my wasted film were solved when I purchased my first digital camera last November. I got a Nikon D80. Nevertheless, for me, it is still luck to make a good photo. At least with the digital camera, I don't have to pay for processing and or printing until I've seen the image on my big monitor at home. The D80 will have paid for itself in a few years!


The little island of Santorini, Greece offered up this opportunity to snap a church photo. The Nikon N65 was the camera for this image.

The beach at the Nadezhda Hotel near Gelendjik, Russia on the Black Sea's eastern shore is where this image was made with the Nikon N65.




When we visited some friends near Napa, California the spring air was really cold. So, the vineyard workers used these smudge pots to prevent any frost damage to the plants. This photo was taken with the Nikon N65.

Why we were in Geneva, Switzerland in January of 2003 is another story. The wind off Lake Geneva really blows. Here is proof of what happens when someone doesn't heed the warnings about parking near the lakeshore. I used the Nikon N65 for this.





Each year in Dieppe, France this is a HUGE kite festival. There is always plenty of wind in this seaside town. The image was made with a Nikon N65.

Along the Black Sea's eastern coast near Novorossyisk and Gelendjik, Russia is the Utrish Dolphinarium. This photo was made with the Olympus μ 35mm point and shoot after the Nikon N65 refused to advance its film! Luck was with me as the timing was right to get the dolphins just out of the water.



______________________________

Some questions... First, this usually happens on very sunny days. When I snap a photo in auto mode, usually the sky gets washed out and looks white. Now, in Slim's SF GG Bridge photo, it looks reallly coo; but generally I think it looks undesirable as I like to see some colour in the sky - not a big wash of white. Now if I switch to manual mode, I'm able to control the shutter speed - if I speed up the shutter enough, I can get some colour in the sky, but the foreground is usually too dark. How can I get a good compromise between sky and ground colour? I think sun location might have something to do with it, but I've seen some photos with the sun direction in the image, a colourful foreground, and vivid sky. Second, how can I take those photos with a in focus foreground, and a very blurry background without being 6 inches from the subject (bokeh?)? Does this require an additional lens, or are most mid-range digicams capable of this (mine is a Canon A610 "pro-sumer"). Canadiana is obvious in these photos:

As a history and archaeology buff, I've seen many of the spots along the Silk Road. These camels in Fergana, Uzbekistan, were just itchting to spit on somebody. I waited until they spat upon everyone else before I approached and quickly took this image. This was done with the Nikon N65.

The locals use this long jetty in the harbor of Novorossyisk, Russia to haul in fish that must surely taste like petrol. The water is perpetually slick with a shiny film of spilled fuel and cement dust from the three cement plants on the harbor's other side. Our Olympus μ 35mm point and shoot made this photo




This Tuscan shop cat on a side street in Cortona, Italy means business. He snarled at more than one passer-by that tried to pet him. A Nikon N65 was used.

A short walk across a bridge spanning the Tiber from a summer apartment we had in Rome's (Italy) Trastevere is La Boca della Verita. This photo is notable because it is often difficult to see this ancient sewer cover without some tourist sticking a body part into the Boca (Italian for "Mouth"). Again, a Nikon N65 made the image.




This is a sleepy afternoon in Arles, France. Our Olympus μ 35mm point and shoot made the photo.

A man and his dogs were taking a break in downtown San Diego, California. I used the Nikon N65 to capture this image.

Playing around with my new digital (I'm a long time hold out from the film days). All taken with a Nikon D70s.

My youngest daughter during Halloween. I call this one Tough Chick:




My wife's cousin. I call this one Paparazzi:



And a couple from my gun collection:

One of the many side street enterprises in Cairo, Egypt is carving alabaster for tourists. I used the Olympus μ 35mm point and shoot for this photo.

The mountains near our La Jolla (San Diego, California) home are in danger of wild fires every autumn. The poor fellow in the photo is literally fleeing his burning home in this image. He was trying to save everything with a garden hose. This photo was also made with the Olympus μ 35mm point and shoot.





The golden arches are inside the Conciergerie along the Seine River in Paris, France. Our Nikon N65 was used for the photo.

The Moorish arches below are in Cordoba, Spain. This was made with the Olympus μ 35mm point and shoot.





These two artsy attempts at self-portraiture were made in 2000 while we were over-nighting in Marseilles, France on the way to our house in Cargese. Seated at a table while waiting for my bouillabaisse to arrive, I used the Nikon N65 on a tripod.

Standing in our hotel room before a mirror, I used the Olympus μ 35mm point and shoot.

I believe that I will stick to making photographs of people, places, and things other than myself.



______________________________

This is quite the cat.

What I do is set the aperture to f8.0 (the smallest on my camera) slow down the shutter to about 1/60 to bring the exposure up, and focus on clouds or something far away and then adjust my zoom to focus foreground images. That should give you sufficient depth of field to shoot long focus shots with sky definition. Exactly the opposite of what I just told you, set your aperture as wide as it goes. Mine is f2.8. Then speed up the shutter to compensate for the increased brightness and focus on foreground.

An interesting hobby you have there. Are you also into airport architecture, or just the aircraft?

I'm a photography n00b, so please be gentle

Some close-ups I took of flowers: