Butterfly Pavilion, Denver
My husband and I have finally graduated from our Kodak digital point and shoot to a digital SLR camera. Let me know what you think of our first week with the new camera. Best husband took the butterfly photos, and I took the rest.
Ken Caryl Canyon
Moonrise over mountains
Rock window, Ken Caryl Canyon
Nest box, Ken Caryl Canyon
Lone tree, Ken Caryl Canyon
Bird with bright red head ironically named “red breasted woodpecker.”
Turtle, Butterfly Pavillion
Butterfly pavillion
Butterfly pavillion
Butterfly pavillion
© Huffygirl 2013
Huffygirl's Blog 
Looks like you have a winner there. The pics are nice too. 😉
Thanks Sandra 🙂
Canon are the best! These are fab, especially Moonrise, you’ll have a lot of fun with it!
Thanks Gilly. I think it will be even better when I learn to use the manual settings, and, eventually get a telephoto lens.
Good for you! Lovely photos.
Thanks Lisa. We’ve had fun with it so far.
The pictures are so crisp and sharply focused! I’m very very impressed by the black and white butterfly and the windowed rock and the woodpecker. How heavy and bulky is the new camera??
Thanks Sharon. That woodpecker is my photo nemesis. I try to catch a shot of him every time he’s at the bird feeder. And he’s like “sheesh, more birdie paparazzi!”
The camera itself is not too bad to hold – it is big and bulky but surprisingly I’m able to hold it okay. The worst part is the big, bulky camera bag. In fact, our debate over going digital SLR versus point and shoot was, “do we want to carry around a big old camera bag?”
Thanks – one of the things I really like about my point and shoot, for all its limitations, is that I can just stick it in my pocket and go! But SLRs do make nice pictures…
I know what you mean Sharon. I wish there was some way I could have this much camera AND be able to carry it in my pocket!
😀
Don’t you just love the quality of the pictures you can take with the SLR? I need to go back to using mine more. I’ve been using my other digital Nikon because it has a 42X zoom and I don’t need to change lenses, but I still think the SLR takes the best pictures. Your post makes me want to run upstairs and charge the battery! Nice shots. Enjoy!
Thanks Susan. Have you got that battery charged yet? What I’m really missing about my old point and shoot is the zoom. The new digital SLR is great, but I can’t get as close as I’d like. I had to crop these photos to get the close-up look, although with the good quality, one might not have known it. I think we will be investing in a telephoto lens, but not right away. Meanwhile, I need to take some time to learn to use the manual settings.
I’ve had my SLR for four years and still have not used the manual settings. We should get together and figure it out.
Yes we should – maybe we’ll have to do an online chat, or let me know next time you’re coming to Michigan. Remember, you still owe yourself a trip to Mackinac Island.
We can Skype or FaceTime, if you have a Mac.
Sure, I have Skype. I’ll email you my skype address.
Nice work! You might want to try, on shots like the “hole in the rock”, to add in a bit more sky above the rocks, though that’s best if there are some clouds in the sky. (I’ve shot a LOT of airshow footage – trying to get something special requires a lot of luck!) Where I had the most fun with results (which you can’t get with a point-and-shoot) is lower light levels. I’ve got several shots I took of one of the Star Trek actors on stage, lit only by a single orange bulb. It took an F2.8 lens running ASA 1600 film, but the shots are gorgeous! (Doesn’t hurt the actress is a knockout, in my opinion, either! 😀 )
Thanks. Wow, sounds like you are my go-to guy when I need help figuring out these manual settings! And are you attending Star Trek conventions now?
Um … “go to guy”? Does it matter that my cameras still use film, and the closest they get to “digital” is when I press the shutter with one of my digits? Other than that, heck yeah, I’ll do you for as much as I know!
Sadly, no, we can’t afford conventions anymore. That habit died out when I substituted going to airshows, and THAT died out when I got hooked on re-enacting. And THAT died out when my money went pffft! (Sadly, all those hobbies required a varying amount of money – “zero” isn’t considered a valid amount.)
So be you casual fan, Trekker, or Trekkie? 😉
I’m not sure if I’m a Trekker or Trekkie – I’m not aware of the distinction. I like the ST movies; I watched every episode of DS9 and cried when they finally got home; I liked STNG; and I have seen some of the original ST episodes, but I was too young at the time they were originally on to like them then.
Sounds like you’ve had a lot of interesting habits in your lifetime John. Maybe you’ll find one you like that doesn’t require much money – one of my favorites is bike rides, which aren’t expensive once you buy the bikes 😉 and going to the beach, which is pretty cheap unless you go out for dinner afterwards.
It depends on your depth of fan dedication. Trekkers are fans who claim to have some shred of self-respect and that they have a life. Trekkies just don’t give a hoot anymore! (I am DEFINITELY in the 2nd category.)
Sadly, around here there’s not too many places to ride, other than in the street – and that will guarantee a REALLY short life-span. And the closest beach is Cleveland …. um, no, thanks. I am still looking for some kind of hobby, though, in between reading all these blogs, and trying to write my own, I just can’t seem to find the time….. 😉
I guess I’m a Trekker then.
As far as biking, we do ride in the street, but mostly on back roads, not congested traffic areas. So far we’ve been lucky, but there have been a couple people in our area who were seriously injured by a car while biking, and we’ve seen many motorists who aren’t very nice about sharing the road with bikers. And mind you, we’re riding single-file, on the shoulder, with lights and signaling for stops and turns.
Beautiful!
Thanks.
I have a new camera as well, however the weather has not cooperated. Almost everyday for a month it has either rained or been overcast…waiting on Spring! See you on the other side of the lens!
Great. I’ll look forward to seeing your photos. I did go out in the snow and got few yesterday. It was chilly but sunny. But rain – not much you can do with that, unless you want to go out in a fantastic storm and take pics.
Sheesh these are so good.I can’t take a good picture to save my soul.I probably need a class.I love those butterfly pictures and just wish that I could take some nice shots like that!
Thanks LN! We did these all with the automatic settings on the camera, so hope to have even more to share when we figure out the manual settings.
Really nice!
Thanks. We’re having fun with it.
Those are nice photos, esp for a beginner to SLR. 🙂
Thanks Evans. I’ll be posting more as we get more experienced with the camera.
Nice pictures! Wish you luck and a lot of nice shots with a new camera 🙂
Thanks, and thanks for dropping by.