Photography and I

Here's the deal: I really enjoy photography.

I have mentioned that on here before but over the past few months especially, I have taken a more keen interest in the subject. I read photography books and study tutorials, I enjoy looking through random Flickr pages, and I enjoy trying stuff out with my camera that I haven't done before. Taking pictures has definitely become a full-blown hobby for me.

My definition of a hobby is something that I do that is theraputic for me. By that definition, I don't have a ton of hobbies. Three or four come to mind, cooking, travelling, reading and writing, and now photography. Notice that computers aren't on the list, that is for a couple of reasons. First, I don't play video games as much as I used to and, while I still enjoy them, my life doesn't revolve around them. Secondly, I have tinkered with computers so much in the last ten years that there isn't a lot of stuff left about them that intrigues me. I can build them, tweak them, and cause mischief on them and for me that is enough. I like messing around with computer security stuff but quite frankly, we all know where that road leads me and therefore, I purposefully avoid it these days.

Photography though, lets me wrap some of my other hobbies into it and it has become a very convenient pasttime for me. I take pictures when I travel and I write about some of the pictures I take. Although cooking doesn't get involved very much, I suppose I could start taking pics of the food I make if I really wanted to. Nothing wakes me up in the morning like a steamy portrait of roast chicken with red peppers....ohh....those sexy red peppers....ahh. Oh sorry, back to photography.

Anywho, I have slowly come to the point that my Kodak P850 is more of a hinderance to me than a solid picture snapping tool. Its a good camera and it has served me well, but I have outgrown it and I need something more. Enter my Nikon D80 with a Nikor 18-200 VR lens. If you look up the bugger on line you are going to say, holy crap, Mogwai spent that on a camera!? Yup, I did but since I am in Japan and Nikon is in Japan, I didn't get it for the price they are asking in various stores and online. Nonetheless, it was kind of a spendy purchase. But it does what I want it to do and I think it will be able to last me a while. I also don't think I can outgrow this camera like I could my point and shoot. To be honest, I really didn't want to buy it now but I kept thinking of the photos I could be taking if I had a more suitable camera and the fact that I wasn't going to be in Japan forever, prompted me to move up the timetable a bit. I am glad I did.

Here are a few examples of what I can do now:



















I have lots more I could show you but Blogger is a tad slow in upload department and the pics I could show you are rather large, even after being converted to JPG. To that end, I have kicked my Flickr account into full gear. If you look in the top, right-hand corner of the blog, you will see a link to it. If you would rather cut and paste it in, this is the address:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/26958107@N00/

All of the photos on that page have been taken by me and most of them have a brief description attached to them. I have a Multiply account that I originally intended to be my photo page but it is geared more toward someone who wants a full-blown blog rather than a photo page. Since I already have a blog, I didn't need another one. Flickr is geared more toward photos and I also like the fact that I can get feedback and advice from people on there. I haven't been active on this blog for a couple of days because I have been getting my Flickr site presentable and uploading quite a few pics to it. If you go there, there is definitely something for you to look at now. I also intend to update it frequently which is something that never really happened with the Multiply account.

I will try to split my time equally between this blog and my Flickr account but at the moment, I am really into photography so this page may get a little neglected. I will try to post on here at more regular intervals now that I have the Flickr page up and running with a good tasting of my photography. Keep in mind, I take TONS of photos but the ones that go on Flickr are ones that I am kind of proud of or want feedback on. If you want to see my more "everyday" stuff let me know and I will see what I can do. At the moment, my Flickr site has a lot of my HDR stuff on it. HDR is kind of my obsession at the moment. Looking at an HDR picture that has been properly done is a lot like looking at a still frame of HDTV, lots of detail and bright colors; the pictures pop. HDR is something I have wanted to do for a while but my old camera couldn't take it. My new one can and I am relived to finally get some of the shots that I have seen in my head but have been unable to capture until now.

So anyways, please take a gander at my Flickr site and tell me what you think of the pictures. I don't usually brag about much but I do think some of the shots I have taken are okay and merit a look. I know I am just starting out but I think over time, I have the capability to take some nice pictures that are more like the images that I see in my head when I look at things.