Recently, I bought a Christmas gift (malayo pa lang ang Pasko noon iniisip ko na ito, ) to myself in which something new to my interests, (maybe inclined because I loved drawing when I was still 3 feet tall, and always a nature lover, fond of art, etc.). It was December last year when I got my very first DSLR. I chose the Nikon D40 model over the other entry-level DSLR’s because it has acclaimed a good reviews from hobbyists to professional photographers all around the world. So I was badly influenced to get the Dark Side brand.

At first, I’m afraid to hold this bulky (compared to slim P&S digital cameras) thing and operate it’s controls feared that I might cause it to malfunction (ganito nga naman talaga pakiramdam ng mga first timers). Reading the manual is really the first thing to do when you have a new toy to learn to. Then I tried taking some shots using the Auto settings. Amazing output there and you can’t really compare it to a P&S cameras (IMHO). But I learned the rule of the thumb which they say “stay away from the green zone” (referring to auto mode) and begin learning to use the P (Programmed Mode), A (Aperture Priority), S (Shutter Priority) and most of all the M (Manual Mode). It really took me alot of time to read and experiment when I dialled into one of this modes especially the Manual Setting. The funny thing then was my pictures where incomparable to others , sometimes pure black, and at all times washed out or purely white. . Well, the reason? it is where the term exposure comes into the picture. Exposure, exposure, exposure. Yes, that’s the main thing that all photographers should be dealing of. There are three (please correct me if i’m mistaken) major factors to be considered to get the proper exposure of your subject, these are the Aperture, which is the size of the opening of the lens, Shutter, which is the time (measured in seconds) on how long the shutter stays open and ISO which before, during the Film age, described as the sensitivity of the film to the light, but today’s digital age, it’s the sensitivity of the camera’s sensor (CMOS or CCD) to the light. There are other factors also to be considered to achieve a great image like white balance, metering, exposure compensation, etc. but those three where our key players in our goal. I patiently researched and read articles on all of these and of course, tried to apply it. Shoot, shoot, shoot until I can almost say, I can nearly compare it against the one from masters of photography. At least I improved.

Care to see my sample shots? hehe. Just post your comments and suggestion. Thanks for viewing.

A shot taken at my mom's mini garden at our backyard

Playing with DOF

A nightshot at MOA before the 3rd Wolrd Pyro Olympics

3rd Pyro Olympics

My girl taken at MOA's esplanade

Of course, the Photographer (wow) and the Model

You may see my complete gallery here : http://www.flickr.com/photos/rushjudge

thanks for viewing