Moving into the DSLR world

In light of my recent birthday, I got an upgrade on my camera as a slight early gift. I’ve had my eye on the Nikon D90[wiki] for a matter of months now, but the push of going into the DSLR side of photography is something I’ve wanted to do for a long time. As I said to Rebecca the other day, I’m back in the remedial class in terms of what I know, what I think I know, and what I don’t know. The last statement is vast, but I’m already in good company.

(The wise) John Biehler told me that once I got the model of camera that I wanted, there would be a lot of opportunity to meet plenty of other like minded folks who were eager to share their knowledge and insight on gear, techniques, and everything else you get yourself into when you make this kind of upgrade.

So just a matter of days after my purchase (of which Rebecca was in near constant contact with John via SMS), we had a birthday gathering at our place last Friday night, inviting John, Peter[flickr], and their collection of lenses and flashes for me to try out and get a feel for.

Still being a newbie, I’ll post a few of my favorite shots from the night with no edits or crops. Going through my own sense of discovery with this amazing apparatus and what it can possibly do. Click any thumbnail to see the full image.

Really liking the camera so far. I’m not sure how long it will take for me to get into purchasing extra lenses for it, but these trials have me gunning for a 50mm f1.4 lens, which many of the shots above are with. My only other goal with lenses would be to shoot some more concerts with. It’ll also be great for many photos that I’m sure you’ll be seeing on miss604.com, starting with a recent post where I shot George Stroumboulopoulos chatting with Rebecca.

Rebecca interviews George Stroumboulopoulos

Just for kicks, this was my favorite shot I took from that interview.

Weekend camping at Cultus Lake for drunkcamp02

Camping on Cultus

Three days in Chilliwack, B.C. at Cultus Lake with Rebecca, John, and Duane. Lots and lots of sitting around the campfire, laughing a ton, good drink, good food, and the weather was… good.

Home for three days

Nerd City

The forecast in the days leading up to the trip just got worse and worse. Everyone we knew told us that we were nuts for going camping this weekend. It ended up being awful on Thursday night, Friday was actually really nice, and Saturday was off and on in terms of being cool from winds that would whip up from time to time. Other than that, everything went off great.

I like fire

I even busted open my right shin a tiny bit when a piece of wood I was chopping got away and clocked me. That’s about par for the course, no other major injuries.

Sunset behind the mountain

Drowning tree

I can still smell the smoke, if not taste it. That’s only the real complaint of the trip, even if the coolness kept us all pretty close to the fire. Couldn’t even fathom jumping into the lake, no matter how inviting or calling it might have been. Fleece under a rain jacket was just right. Bone chilling lake water from ice run off from the mountains in the area, not so much.

Lanyards

Ah yes, we indeed called this drunkcamp02, complete with lanyards. It’s more of a statement of enjoying the time away from laptops and technology and becoming one with nature. Even though there are public washrooms within easy walk and Duane’s family brought us amazing food(perogies, cabbage rolls, and KFC), donuts from Tim Horton’s, and fire wood in three separate trips on Saturday, it’s tough country out there “in the Wack”.

You can see more of my pictures from the trip on Flickr.