Prime lenses?

[lisaly]

Originally Posted by Wylie's Mom

I bet you love that D300, it's such a nice camera. Please don't go to too much trouble on the histogram thing...I wonder how much people really use them. Maybe Bonny will have this covered in the class she is taking and be able to fill us in . I don't know why I'm so bugged by histograms, but I am...I just need to find out if they work for me or not.

You're so lucky to have spent so much time in the darkroom...it's such a poignant experience...seeing a picture in the chemicals, developing before your eyes. I could have used my equipment so much more, and just didn't - oh well.

Your vet sounds wonderful, that's so key. It's great to have you here .

I really am thrilled with the camera, and I wish I had more time to devote to my photography. Really, the D90 is just as nice as my camera, though, and each of them is capable of taking wonderful pictures. It wasn't out when I got mine, and it definitely is better for someone who doesn't want to spend a lot of time editing their photos. The jpeg engine is more optimized to getting pictures right straight out of camera. With the D300, it was geared more for professionals, and Nikon felt that the professionals would more like to tweak the pictures the way they wanted them. I like the fact that the D300 is very rugged and can handle inclement weather, but the D90 also will do fine. I helped my friend pick out a camera, and she got the D3000. It takes beautiful pictures! The lenses run a little more, because it doesn't have the motor, but Nikon just released the 35 1.8 with a motor and also the new 85mm macro that I hear is great. They are slow in coming out with the new primes, but the ones that do are excellent.

Thank you so much for all of your warm wishes. I'd like to be able to contribute to this community, so feel free to ask questions. Again, I don't completely understand how the color channels work on the histograms, but I'd be happy to check into it, so if someone starts a thread, I'll do my homework and join in. It's something I have to do all the time with my job. I am a teacher, and I mostly teach 9th and 10th graders in resource room. I help my students with all of their work. To be able to do that, I must learn the material myself and be able to break it down so that I can make it understandable to my students. I think having a histogram is a valuable, useful tool.

[Wylie's Mom]

Originally Posted by bonbon

Oooh, I like these suggestions. That'll be great practice. I kept playing with the 50mm for while last night and I know need to work on distance from the subject.

Hmmm...Bonny, are you having trouble w/ the lens "hunting" around too much? Were you in reallllly low light? This lens does well in low light, but will have some limitations (you can also increase your ISO if in low light).

Also, the closest you can get w/ this lens is 1.5ft - you might already know that, but I had to refresh my memory too, so there ya go .

Originally Posted by lisaly

Here are a few more pictures of Ashley. All of these were taken when she was 15 or 16 years old.

Lisa, Ashley is just *ADORABLE* ! I love seeing the love between you two! Just beautiful. She seriously "smiles" in many of her pics, it's so cute. Thanks for posting pictures - she is so lucky to have you as her Mama, it's clear you're so devoted to her care. (well, and of course, you're lucky to have her too )

[BonBon]

Originally Posted by Wylie's Mom

Hmmm...Bonny, are you having trouble w/ the lens "hunting" around too much? Were you in reallllly low light? This lens does well in low light, but will have some limitations (you can also increase your ISO if in low light).

Also, the closest you can get w/ this lens is 1.5ft - you might already know that, but I had to refresh my memory too, so there ya go .

Hunting around...yes, that's a good way to describe it. I figured that's what it was so I lowered the ISO. My instructor hates flash and wants us to learn to do without it - but of course I HAD to play around with my SB-400. I LOVE it!! I just can't believe how much better it is than the built in flash. And, I didn't realize that it tilted to different angles like it does. I've loved everything so much, I'm having a hard time deciding what my favorite piece of equipment is.

I didn't know that about the closest distance being 1.5 feet, but after playing with it I figured it must be something like that. I think my problem was being too far away from objects because the background wasn't blurring like I wanted. When I moved in a little closer the background blurred beautifully. I've mostly left the lens set on 1.8 but I did move it a few notches a couple of times so I can try to learn the different effects.

Also, I put the 70-300mm lens on for the first time last night. It was late and I was tired so I didn't play with it very much. But, I think this is another lens I'm going to have a lot of fun with. I'd really thought I would be leaving the 18-105mm kit lens on most of the time but now I'm not so sure.

You know, while I waited all these months to be able to buy this camera, I kept thinking to myself "Do I really want to spend that much on a CAMERA?" Now, I could just kick myself for not doing it sooner.

[lisaly]

When you get a chance, use your SB-400 outside for portraits when it is sunny out in the middle of the day. It helps a lot to fill in the shadows. You can use a foam core board instead if you have someone to hold it for you, since the sun hitting the white board will bounce the light back into the subject's face. I try to avoid midday sun, but if I can't, I mostly use my flash and it makes a big difference. The tilt on the flash also makes a big difference, especially if you are taking a picture of animals. You will be able to maintain the dark eyes if the flash is bounced, and the light is also softer and more diffused. If you are doing close portraits, you may need to keep the aperture on 2.8 with the 50mm to be able to get both eyes in focus. This may be too much information, so filter and use what interests you.

Your 70-300 lens will also achieve wonderful results, and it will get the kind of bokeh you are looking for. With the longer focal length, you are compressing the field of view and you can get great backgrounds.

Some people say you should take your 18-105 lens and set it at one focal length, possibly 35 mm for a little while just to learn. If you learn to use it at the one focal length and zoom with your feet, you will be more careful with composition. I started off with only a 50mm lens many years ago, so I had to do that. On a full frame camera, the 50 mm has approximately the same field of view as a 35mm on a crop. You could do this with your 50mm, but it may not be wide enough. You have so many great tools to use, and they each serve a purpose for different things, so you will definitely use them all. You made some excellent choices. I can see you have done your research and gotten a lot of great advice. Playing with one focal length might be something to try at one time. I am happy you are enjoying your camera so much. It is a wonderful hobby, and photographs also document so many important events in one's life.

[lisaly]

I bought a book recently that I think is wonderful for people at all levels of photography. It's Bryan Peterson's latest one. I have Understanding Exposure, and I would recommend that one first, but this one seems to be a compilation of parts of all of his books. I haven't had a chance to read it, but I have looked through it and can tell that it is going to be another book I love. This is the link at Amazon: Amazon.com: Bryan Peterson's Understanding...

[lisaly]

Lisa, Ashley is just *ADORABLE* ! I love seeing the love between you two! Just beautiful. She seriously "smiles" in many of her pics, it's so cute. Thanks for posting pictures - she is so lucky to have you as her Mama, it's clear you're so devoted to her care. (well, and of course, you're lucky to have her too )[/QUOTE]

Thank you for your kindness. Ashley never fails to make me laugh every day. She brings such love and happiness into our lives. It is so refreshing coming to YT and meeting people who love their babies and are so willing to help others. I stumbled across this site when I was looking for information about yorkies and IBD a few months ago. In that time, I grew to care about the people who were posting about their sick yorkies and the babies themselves. Our lives completely revolve around our little girl, but she is worth it and we wouldn't want to have it any other way. I know that many people here feel the same as us.