Friday, September 2, 2011

My new toy!!

I got the most splendid birthday present and I am so excited! Years and years ago I used to take a lot of photos on film and I used a Pentax K1000, the VW Bug of film SLRs.  I loved that camera and it loved me. It traveled to different continents with me and in the jungle and savannas and cities afar. I have carousels of slides that I took with it and a couple of nice lenses.

Then I started using a point and shoot Elph with that new fancy cartridge film (what is that called?), and then moved to a couple of different digital cameras that have been okay. But I just don't take good photos with them for whatever reason.  And I think that having a slightly larger camera means I remember to take it with me (but we will test that theory now).

So, I've thought about a digital SLR for a little while now. I didn't know what to get - Canon or Nikon?  Well, there is a Pentax option that gets great reviews AND that I can use my old 50mm 1:2 lens with the K mount with. And other old Pentax lenses that may not be too expensive nowadays but would be fun to try (my dad apparently has a collection so I asked him to go through and see if there was anything interesting. I'm pretty sure he has a nice wide angle lens...)

I asked for the Pentax K-r for my birthday - and now I have one!  And I've learned that I have forgotten most of what I once knew about taking photos (which wasn't a huge amount to begin with), and digital introduces new concepts. But I have been playing a little with it, just around the house so far...I'm trying the manual mode rather than preset auto modes (of which there are several).

Cody in a semi-dark bedroom

close shot of my birthday bouquet
this is the same shot, cropped to show more detail...
And even more cropping - the image maintains nice detail even sized for the web at 60% quality.
a new shot at my little corded handbag...compared with the original shot below (which I took with a point and shoot Lumix) The first one was doctored up a bit in Photoshop Elements to get the colors right. I didn't do any editing at all with any of these photos. I used the white adjustment right on the camera before shooting.



 

A couple of different versions of the same shot of our front door from the couch - it will be fun to play with the composition of photos with different settings.

So much fun!!  Thank you to Mr. Wonderful, Teen Wonder, and Wild Thing!! I just asked for one present this year so they all pitched in (especially Mr. Wonderful). xoxoxoxo

I need a camera case for my new baby - if anyone knows of a great pattern for making one please let me know. I'm thinking I could adapt a diaper bag or box pouch pattern or combine elements somehow...

(linked to Sarah's Whoop Whoop! because I actually did get a new post in on a Friday)

3 comments:

  1. Great photos! I'm sure you'll just love this camera.

    I had an even older Pentax that I loved but since I couldn't use my lenses (I checked it out) when I went digital I went with the Nikon. I'm happy!

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  2. Whoop whoop whoop, girl! You are going to have so much fun with this new camera! And I love your pics -they're awesome!!

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  3. What a difference in the photos with the new super-camera! Happy!

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