Showing posts with label Nikon J1. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Nikon J1. Show all posts

Sunday, February 3, 2013

Project: New Camera

Nikon J1

Happy Birthday to me! One of the good things about having my birthday three weeks after Christmas is that I can cash in on some Boxing Day sales. This year I cashed in on a new camera. A step up from the 'green pea' (aka my old, bright green, waterproof, scratched up screen 'pea' of a camera).

At first glance this new camera is comparable in size to the typical 'point and shoot'. However, slap on the lens and things get amped up a little bit. I bought the package deal of the J1 so it came with two lenses, one with a smaller range and one with a bigger range. I know very little about cameras and shutter speeds and exposure levels so the photography section will be devoted to my version of "photography for dummies".


Horse Photoshoot

My friend Michelle owns a HORSE!! A real live horse who lives at a beautiful farm. Perfect opportunity for a photoshoot!

Tip #1: Moving objects are not the easiest things to learn how to photograph, but you can still have fun anyways.
(crop out my shadow and this picture's not too bad).

I didn't play around with as many settings as I would have liked too because let's be honest, when a horse is running straight towards you, your priorities shift a little bit. I did figure out, however, that because it was so bright outside (with the snow and sun) I was able to have a fairly quick shutter speed.

We started out in a barn and the lighting was super frustrating so while I was trying to find a good shutter speed (aka, button pushing until I figured out what some settings actually affected) I made an awesome "whoops-photo" that turned out super cool.
Now, if I could only do this on purpose. Also, I am wanting his eye to be a little more glossy looking so I might play around with the limited photoshop I have to create the glistening look I want. I'm going to have to look at a my camera to see the specs on this picture. I would love it if I could recreate this, on purpose.


 I gave up trying to set my camera to be able to shoot the indoor/outdoor lighting that the barn was offering so I went outside to see what other farm animals I could find.


Cuties!

I still have sooo much to learn about apertures, and which lens to use and lighting and movement stuff. So, I will just show some of my favorite pictures of the day!



Beautiful

Things are getting a little artsy...If you look reallly closely you can see me in the reflection of his eye!

I love Michelle's expression in this one. Gorgeous!

Starting to figure out how to focus on what I want to focus on, not what the camera wants to focus on.

This ones cool! I love how the white on his face looks against the white snow. I also like how you can see his feet in this one. Pretty good angle, I think.



Focused on the Barbs!

Two fluffy cats and a horse!


...still working out how to get the full silhouette effect.

This picture is awesome. However, I don't like how I feel like I'm going to fall off the earth when I look at it... So I straightened things out a bit...
Ah... That's much better.

I love how you can see the snow splashing up around his hooves. And his tail looks pretty neat too!


Custom fence = custom photo



Pretty good for one of my first photo shoots.... and one last one for the bloopers....
You just can't plan for a shot like this! Makes me laugh out loud every time I look at it!
Thanks for the great day at the farm, Michelle! It's day's like this that get me so excited for the day when I will own my own farm and can spend sunny days outside appreciating the little things like goofy horse faces and beautiful friends. Can't wait for the next photoshoot.