Into Still Waters

Posted in Works For Me! | Tagged camera, finding public domain pictures, SLR cameras | 19 Comments

19 Responses

1. on January 7, 2009 at 7:37 am Sandra

   Thank you for the great links. I’ll book mark this page so I have it as a reference. I use Flikr Creative Commons but sometimes it takes me longer to find the right image than it takes me to write the post!

   
   
2. on January 7, 2009 at 11:42 am dawn

   my two favorite brands..!

   And now they sport those cool flashes that shoot up and all around to give a crisp and clear pix..how I want one of those!

   Good luck choosing!

   
   
3. on January 7, 2009 at 12:03 pm Pmom@ChocolateandGarlic.com

   This is a great idea. Thanks for your post. Could you recheck your links though? Some of them are not working for me.

   
   
4. on January 7, 2009 at 1:24 pm Rina

   Pmom, thanks for letting me know about that. I’m working on finding the problem, but in the meantime, here are the URLs:

   Children In Art: http://www.zona-pellucida.com/childart.html

   Public Domain Photo Blog: http://www.pdphotoblog.com

   Every Stock Photo: http://www.everystockphoto.com

   Public Domain Pictures: http://www.publicdomainpictures.net

   Geek Philosopher: http://www.geekphilosopher.com/MainPage/photos.htm

   
   
5. on January 7, 2009 at 1:25 pm Rina

   Thanks, Dawn… I’ll have to find a place where they’ll let me “play” with both of them for a while before I can choose.

   
   
6. on January 7, 2009 at 1:26 pm Rina

   Sandra, that’s how things go with me, too. I haven’t tried Flikr… thanks for the reference!

   
   
7. on January 7, 2009 at 1:40 pm Blue Castle

   Thank you for sharing these sites. I hate to post without a picture, but sometimes I run out of pictures.

   
   
8. on January 7, 2009 at 3:05 pm It Feels Like Chaos

   Thanks for sharing this helpful info. I am new to the blogging world and was wondering about public domain pictures just recently!

   
   
9. on January 7, 2009 at 4:25 pm Andrea

   Hi Rina, your post was hilarious…I loved your SLR question!
   Actually, I have the D90 and I have to say that I absolutely love it. For one thing, with SLR’s you get a clearer, crisper image and more flexibility with interchangeable lenses. They are great for taking pictures of kids, not only because of the quality of the photos but also because you won’t get that shutter-lag you usually do with point-and-shoot digital cameras. Shutter-lag is the precious few seconds between you pressing the shutter-release and the picture actually being taken and as you well know with kids that’s the difference between a good shot and a blurry one. Now, it’s not cheap and I saved for mine for quite awhile but I assure you that it’s money well-spent.

   So my advice is to buy the D90, for several reasons. First, if you’re considering buying a semi-professional camera like the PowerShot Pro then you already are expecting much more from it than you will likely get. The PowerShot Pro is like a pair of training wheels, but expensive ones, before you know it you will want them off and will be ready to cycle down the steep hill. Second, the D90 can be set to fully automatic so you won’t have to try bumbling around with the manual controls until you’re ready. And last, the beauty of digital cameras is that it is a lot easier to teach yourself photography (with a good little manual). You can play around with light, shutter speed and aperture without having to go to a photo mat and wait a few days for prints. Instead, you see the results right there in the viewfinder. And who knows? Maybe photography will become a new interest for you.

   Sorry for the long response. Hope it helps you a bit. I’ve been in the same predicament as you; I even got the cold shoulder when I went to a camera store to find out more on DSLR’s, so I thought I’d share some things I’ve learned along the way. Plus, you can’t go without a camera for too long with those adorable kids of yours!

   Cheers!

   
   
10. on January 7, 2009 at 4:45 pm Rina

    Andrea, thanks so much for the information on SLR cameras… that was SOOOOO incredibly helpful. I think that after what you’ve said about it, I’m leaning toward taking the jump into the SLR which is what I really want, anyway. I’m still unsure about the lenses, and you mentioned teaching myself photography with a manual, which is something I’ve always wanted to do anyway (I know it’s something you always wanted to do, too – I’m glad you finally did it!) Can you recommend a good manual? Also, what do I need to look for in a lens? I’ve found a website that offers D-90′s for much less than most places I’ve found, and they have packages that come with several lenses, but I’m not sure what to look for! Can you give me some basic information on that?

    The website I mentioned is here and you can see the packages they offer below:

    Nikon D90

    Thanks so much!

    Rina

    
    
11. on January 7, 2009 at 4:54 pm Kim@ForeverWherever

    Thanks for all the information! I’ll have to check back and see what others have to say! I can use all the help I can get with photos!

    
    
12. on January 7, 2009 at 5:25 pm Andrea

    Glad to be of help! I took a look at the page you sent and they seem to have some really good deals. If you’re starting out, you probably would want the greatest versatility in your lens range. That’s the range you can zoom in or zoom out to. There’s a package there that includes an 18-135mm lens which would give you a wide angle (18mm) for shots where you want to get more scenery or people into the viewfinder as well as a nice zoom (to 135mm) if you want to focus on something from far away. Also, the wide angle will give you some nice focused shots of objects or people up-close. You can get some lovely ones of people looking sideways into the camera (close-up) with their eyes in sharp focus and the rest of their face much softer…a really nice effect. Here’s the page with that package: http://soniccameras.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=5494&osCsid=f233463c158a00b00860a533cd37a4e8
    The 28mm-200mm lens is fine too, it gives you less of a wide-angle but more zoom, so it depends on what you want. I wouldn’t get the dual lens packages because the lenses have less of a zoom and you will find yourself changing lenses a lot which is not all that fun. People buy them because generally they have a sharper focus than the zoom lenses but to most eyes that is minuscule and the zoom lens I have has superb focus in my opinion. As for a manual, the guidebook that comes with it is pretty decent, it talks about aperture and shutter-speed and those things but if you find yourself needing more you can get a “learning digital photography” (or something that sounds like that) book on Amazon. Most any beginner SLR photography book will be enough to begin with. Then you can start experimenting! Another thing that’s great about DSLR’s and especially Nikon is that you will be able to fit almost any lens Nikon makes or has made in the past (even ones from the 60s) into your D90. But I’d wait a little for that since lenses are expensive and you should know what you want from it before buying.

    Feel free to ask me more if you need to, I’ll try and answer as best I can. And yes, it’s rewarding to teach yourself something and become good at it…I love photography and I’m still learning more everyday. I actually took a photography class at La Guardia, but that was back in the darkroom days when you had to wait to process your photos before you could see what you did.

    Happy photo trails!
    Andrea

    
    
13. on January 7, 2009 at 5:38 pm Rina

    Andrea, the information you’ve given is SO HELPFUL. I definitely feel more ready to make the leap into SLR’s! I looked at the kits you mentioned, and did notice that the lenses did not have vibration reduction… do you think VR is unnecessary?

    
    
14. on January 7, 2009 at 6:00 pm Andrea

    I know I just emailed you this but I thought I’d put it up there so it doesn’t look like I’m ignoring you..haha! Also, for anyone else wondering the same thing.

    For the vibration reduction, it depends on your budget and the type of shots you take. It’s a new thing and it definitely helps but it works better when you’re zoomed into something (say at like 200mm) because the small vibrations in your hand are more magnified. People have been using non-VR lenses for years with beautiful results so unless you have hand tremors you needn’t worry to much, it depends more on how many zoomed-in shots you think you’re likely to take. You can start with a non-VR lens now and then buy one later (but only with 100mm or more zoom) if you want. However, if you can spend the money and you’re already investing a lot in the camera then go ahead and get it. I hope this helps, sorry I can’t give you a more definitive answer but it really depends on how much you want to spend.
    

    
    
15. on January 8, 2009 at 12:18 pm Mrs. Parunak

    I just have to put in my humble two cents in favor of Cannon cameras. We don’t have a Power Shot pro, but we do have a 10D and a 20D, and we have really loved the image quality. (My husband was a professional wedding photographer for a few years. We’re phasing that out now, but we always used Cannons for his work. ) You will need to spend a little time learning about cameras to get the fullest functionality out of an SLR, but the great news is that you can just “point and shoot” on automatic mode and get beautiful pictures even while you’re learning. And, yes, you CAN do it. I learned to use SLR’s, so you can, too!

    
    
16. on January 8, 2009 at 5:31 pm gina

    I wanted to remind you, invite you to stop by tomorrow and join me in sharing what you are learning from the Word! I’d love for you to join me!!!

    Details here:http://chatswithanoldlady.blogspot.com/2008/12/introducing-what-are-you-learning-new.html

    
    
17. on January 8, 2009 at 11:11 pm Rina

    Thanks, Mrs. Parunak for the encouragement! I think that when the time comes for me to buy a new cameara, I’m definitely going to make the leap into the SLR’s. Thanks for letting me know about the Cannons, too. I’ve looked at both the Nikon and the Cannon and I think ultimately it’s going to be the video feature that will put me over on the side of the Nikon. If I’m going to pay THAT MUCH for a camera, well then I’d sure like to be able to shoot video with it as well!!! ) I’ve heard the Cannons are excellent cameras, though.

    
    
18. on January 9, 2009 at 9:21 pm Mrs. Parunak

    And I’ve heard that Nikons are great, too. I don’t really think you can go wrong with either of these. And it looks like you have a bloggy friend who really knows her Nikon stuff, so you’ll have a good resource for asking questions.

    
    
19. on January 11, 2009 at 1:37 pm Rina

    Thanks, Gina. I didn’t really have much to say this week, but hopefully I’ll be joining again next
    week!