Way back in the days before digital cameras, when we all used film, I used to take a lot of pictures. I had a Pentax ME Super, which was an awesome little camera, and most weekends I’d be out and about taking pictures. Almost always black & white because I also used to develop and print the pictures myself, using my kitchen as a darkroom. It was fun, and I got some pretty good stuff back then. But all that kind of fell by the wayside when I moved to the US, and for the last couple of decades I haven’t had anything more than a pocket digital camera, or more recently of course the one built into my phone.

A few weeks ago I got to thinking about photography again and decided to treat myself to a new DSLR as a daddy’s day gift to myself. After doing some comparison shopping I decided on the Nikon D3400. (The other one I looked at was the Canon EOS Rebel T6; both cameras are, or were, available in a kit with two lenses and a case which saved a bunch of cash, but in the end I decided that the Nikon had more going for it despite the additional $50 on the price tag – 24 megapixels vs. 18, for one thing, and the Nikon has much longer battery life. The T6i is much closer to the Nikon in specs but is significantly pricier.)

I’ve taken the kit out a couple of times so far, and I’m planning on a short trip out later today. One thing I learned is that the 70-300mm zoom lens that comes in the kit isn’t up to much, because it doesn’t have Vibration Reduction; that means when I zoom out all the way I need to find a way to steady the lens otherwise I get a bunch of motion blur. So yesterday I replaced that lens with a VR equivalent – which cost more than what I spent on the camera kit in the first place, but I think it’ll be worth it – and I’m looking forward to getting out later to see how it compares.

(Which reminds me of a Rule Of Thumb from my old camera days, when we didn’t have VR and other neat features: to minimise or eliminate camera shake, use a shutter speed matching the focal length, or faster. For example, if you’re zoomed out to 250mm, then set the shutter speed to 1/250 seconds or better.)

We have a bunch of designated Natural Areas and Open Spaces within easy driving distance of the house, and these are great places to get some nature photos. So far I’ve visited a couple, and got some pretty good pictures of ducks (with added bonus ducklings), dragonflies, a Monarch butterfly that settled on a thistle not six feet from me, as well as some landscape shots of lakes and rivers and trees. And ants, because one of those designated natural areas is riddled with ant hills. Here’s an example (resized down from the 24 Mpix original due to file size constraints):

Want to see more? I signed up as a Shutterstock contributor, and I’ll be uploading the best pictures there. As of this moment there are only a couple of dozen pics in my portfolio but I’ll be uploading more regularly, so if you’re interested check in from time to time. You can see it here: https://www.shutterstock.com/g/peterjford.

Until next time…