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Goodbye D70

Picture taken about 5 seconds before I glugged it down. There’s still some inconsistencies getting the coffee to come out right and I’m not anal enough to redo a shot that doesn’t come out nice. I know what it’s going to taste like the moment it pours out, but I can live with the ‘defect’ of the shot.

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Just wrapped up the D70 to be posted off to its new owner in NSW. After 5 years, the bits and pieces that produced over 20,000 photos for me finally sold off at 30% it’s original price. Not bad considering tech moves at the speed of light and stuff becomes obsolete in 18 months or so (although this really depends on your requirements).

Heh, I still recall the excitement of picking it up at the camera store in SS/2 near my old house. The sales lady put together the strap and other bits and pieces for me, so all I had to do was bring it home and start snapping pictures. It was amazing what quality you could churn out from the camera, moving up from a point and shoot (well, the Nikon Coolpix 5400 was no slouch, but does not come close to matching the quality, dynamic range and acuity of a DSLR).

Learned how pictures were made from ISO, shutter and aperture. Brought the camera to so many places, bought so many accessories for it. Got upset when the sensor got dirty and I decided to do a DIY cleaning. I treat my D300 with less caution these days, as it comes with a built in sensor cleaner (just give technology a few years and it will give you features to fix up annoyances of yesteryear) and I’m adequately happy just using a bulb blower to dislodge the larger specs of dust.

The camera went to New Zealand, New York with me. I took my brother’s wedding with it, some graduation ceremonies, it’s been through a lot with me. All I have left are just the photos that it took over the years.

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Very contented with my D300 now. The only thing that needs upgrading now is the person handling the camera. I have picked up so many tricks over the years, but since I don’t take photos often enough, I still find my skills very lacking. It’s a 2 year old camera now, and unlike the D70, I’m not itching to upgrade it after the 2 years that have gone by. I know it’s limitations but have found more ways to work around them. Heh, my next upgrade would be a full frame D3s quality (have you seen the images it can produce at ISO12800?) camera at a D300 price point and a 24-70mm f/2.8 standard zoom lens (I still love my 17-55mm as my bread and butter lens but it doesn’t work on full frame cameras). These days I read less into the technical capabilities of a camera as they generally perform up to par with my expectations. A professional grade camera is still a must only because the autofocus and controls don’t get in your way of producing photos.

So goodbye D70, I will always remember the good times we had together.

Too Caught Up

One of the simpler images I took from my trip to Beechworth. Personally prefer pictures to be vibrant, yet simple with fewer details trying to grab one’s attention.

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Feel that my camera only makes a cameo appearance during weekends these days. My attention has been taken away by other things. Work takes up a big chunk of time, but you seem so isolated from the things that are going on around you. Maybe I want more interaction, instead of just trying to coax the computer to produce reports and answers for others. I’m losing my sense of direction again and sometimes it’s only apparent when there’s questions to be answered.

Also fiddling with my coffee machine. It’s like a professional camera, where pressing a button captures you an image, so an outcome is produced. The technical capabilities of the camera will create you a sharp image with proper dynamic range and the like, just as following the steps to dosing enough grind for a coffee will produce you a shot. It comes out decent, but lacks the excitement of something that’s done with a little more thoughtfulness.

Heh, maybe I’m rambling on a bit, but I feel stagnant often. I was browsing images on Flickr of other people, and there’s a wealth of talent out there. Sometimes I wish I could cast my nature aside, so that I can mingle with all these brilliant minds, and absorb a little of their creativity so that I too can produce imagery that I’d be proud of.

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Just too caught up in the daily grind. Maybe my mind has a more romanticised notion of what life should be. The weekend beckons. Time to set myself free and explore what’s out there.

Simply Tulips

One of my favourite photos from the Tulip Festival on Monbulk Road in Silvan, Melbourne. This is the third time in four years I’ve been here.

My photo styling has evolved over the last few years, and I feel that I’m taking more interesting photos, as well as improving on my post processing skills. I still don’t think I’m handling the camera enough, so the learning is start stop during the weekends when I do have a chance to photograph something of interest.

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Was busy over the weekend, bringing Vyanne’s friend around Melbourne to have a look see. Yesterday was the Tulip Festival as mentioned while on Saturday we went to South Melbourne Market, then heading eastwards and having lunch in Brighton, before having a stroll on the beach.

Sunday was a simple affair. We lost an hour due to daylight savings (not sure if it’s starting or ending) and got up to make breakfast before picking up a few friends and driving off to the tulip farm. Heh, it started raining a little just before we arrived, so it messed up our plans to picnic on the grass, but it did give me water droplets for taking photos, giving the tulips a freshness about it.

As I have photographed these tulips twice now, decided to bring my exotic prime lenses to take photos. Brought my 85mm f1.8 but that did not come out of the bag at all. Instead, the 50mm f1.2 and 105mm f2.8 Macro saw plenty of action. You could see me half stooping, half bending in an awkward position just to get the shot. I even had my flash unit attached with the bounce card sticking out just to give a little fill light on the flowers.

It was overall an enjoyable experience, with friends bringing different types of food. I made some tuna sandwiches, while Vyanne prepared madeleines. Another friend brought pita bread, with salami, cheese and sundried tomato to be assembled on the spot. Even managed to pack some tea into flasks and the oddest thing at this picnic was a bag of longans. Heh, it seemed a little out of place amongst the other food we brought.

Anyway, the weekend went by too quickly and I don’t think I rested quite enough over this weekend.

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The tulips are quite beautiful, so here are some of the photos I took from this day trip.