INTRODUCE YOURSELF HERE FIRST.

Msmoto

@neostyles Welcome to NRF....

slh1234

Hello all.

I am a US expat living and working in Korea. This is the first photo forum I've ever been a part of. I am very ignorant of photography terminology, and honestly, the only way I know how to use my Nikon D7100 is on auto. That's going to lead me to ask some questions.

My story, in case you're interested:

I've always loved photography, but until recent years, I couldn't really afford a nice camera. I took a job about 10 years ago that led me to do a great deal of travel. I got a basic digital camera to record and share pictures. It was the right level for me, but the pictures were lacking. I got to travel pretty much all over the US, to New Zealand, France, etc. I got to take my wife and our youngest child with me on a lot of our travel. It was great fun.

2 years ago, I got the chance to move to Shanghai. My wife is Korean and she and I met and were married in Korea about 30 years ago. This was the closest we had ever had a chance to get to her home, so we took it. Knowing how much I love photography, my wife suggested I upgrade my camera. The honest truth is: I was not used to making enough money to spend much on myself ... and we had just gotten out daughters through college. I went in and didn't even know what I was shopping for because I had never really considered getting a nice camera. My wife, being the fine Korean lady she is, had a perfect plan for how to choose a camera: Buy the most expensive camera in the store. Honestly, that's how we chose it. I wasn't even going to spend the money on myself, but she absolutely insisted.

I got fantastic pictures of the wonderful parks and beautiful countryside in and around Shanghai, and out into China. Just indescribably beautiful parks there - I'm glad I had a camera that could capture it.

I got promoted, and when I was promoted, I was offered a position in my wife's hometown in Korea. I jumped at it, and so we live in Korea. I still travel some in Asia, but honestly, we're so incredibly happy in Korea that this farm boy has slowed his travel outside of Korea as much as possible. We're still exploring and re-discovering Korea - it's a different world from what it was when we were married here.

I love the camera. On auto, it takes the best pictures of any camera I have ever owned, hands down. However; as I'm getting better, I'm discovering three types of photos that I'm just not satisfied with. That will result in at least three questions in the forum from me. On our trip hiking last weekend, another fellow had the exact same type of camera I have, and he showed me he could take the low-light photos of people as we got on the bus well before sunrise. He didn't use a flash, but just adjusted his ISO (I think ... I can't actually replicate what he did). The photo he took of our wives together on the bus had beautiful, warm color in their faces, and it looked like a night picture. I can't replicate that. I want to improve as a photographer - I love the hobby. I can finally afford to do it, my wife certainly wants me to enjoy the hobby, so I want to do it well.

So that's the story of how I got to this forum.

Msmoto

@slh1234

How nice of you to share your story. Welcome to NRF.

If you hang around and read with discrimination the threads, you will find yourself advancing rapidly, no doubt. Let us see a photo on PAD (Photo-A-Day) sometime.

ntime60

Hi all,

I've been around for a long time as an amateur and for the last 15 years or so as a semi-pro. I'm a Systems Admin for a regional health care organization by trade, so I tend to be very technically inclined. Read, heave computer user with a whole lot of software knowledge.

My first Nikon camera was a circa '68 F body my grandfather bought for my birthday.

Since that time, I have purchased an FE, an F5, I added an n90s around 1996, stayed with the n90s until 2006 when the D200 was released, my first real dip into the Digital era. Meanwhile I kept all my film cameras and still today occasionally will use them to shoot certain shots. Around 2009, I found a practically brand new D300 for a very attractive price and purchased that. I love the D300, it has been my goto camera for just about everything.

I tend to snap a lot of birds of both the feathered type and the metal kind. I love landscapes and I tend to randomly go out on a drive, point the car in a direction and snap anything that calls to me. This is also how I tend to find birds of prey. I still shoot, weddings, birthdays and reunions/gatherings to finance my next case of NAS.

Over the years since buying the D200, all of my lens choices (there have been many) have been FF lenses as I've always told myself I would eventually return to FF, but that is also why I still shoot film. The digital darkroom has finally progressed to a point where I can live without film.

Now, I sit here thinking of all the options that are available and I've been leaning hard toward a D750. But the rub is, I hunt birds with long glass and the crop factor of a DX body is very compelling. I would like to see a D7200, I'd really like to see a good replacement for the D300...D400? But the D750 talks to me because of low noise, 5FPS with 14bit raw, Expeed 4... I have not forgotten the D810 and with the idea behind the astrophotography aspect, deserves a serious look, because I also dabble in that realm with the F5 still.

So, now that you know a bit of my story, what would you buy or wait for? I think we have too many options in camera bodies.

Photobug

@ntime60 - Welcome. Thanks for the great background. Suggest you copy and paste your entire message into "new discussion". You will get lots of input to your questions.

lilchameleon

Hello everyone,
I've been behind Nikon cameras since I was 17 and started working in an "old timey" (think cowboys and saloon girls) photo studio. I'm now 26 and a full time wedding photographer as of this past December when I graduated with my master's degree (not in anything photography related, just kind of a "fall back" degree). Now that I'm all done with school FOREVER, I'm focusing on my photo career. I'm contracted to shoot 32 weddings for some local studios this year, and then I've contracted 10 weddings to photograph for my own "company", Chameleon Imagery. I just sent off my D750 to Nikon to fix up that flare recall dealio, and then my D600 is struggling with oil again, so that'll be next! LOL, so I'm having lots of luck lately with Nikon... (not) :P

So I'm excited to read, contribute, and browse this forum! If anyone wants to take a gander at what I do, my website is: www.chameleonimagery.com -Lillian

Msmoto

Welcome to the Forum. We look forward to seeing more.

trolley

G'Day.
Noob here from the U of K (doesn't work that, really).
Currently waiting for a D800 to arrive (upgrade from a D200). And a 300mmf4 to replace my Sigma 150-500mm.

Msmoto

Hi trolley, welcome to the Forum. You will love the D800, I have had both the D200 and D800. We look forward to seeing some of your work.

Golf007sd

@trolley, @lilchameleon, @ntime60, @slh1234

On behalf of all the mod's and members, welcome. We are all looking forward on your input and feedback about the world of photography.

Cheers...

Jetranger

I have just joined. I have been shooting as a hobby since my first camera (F3) in the 80's. Had my own darkroom, and did my own colour enlargements. I went to digital when all the "real" photogs were saying digital would never replace film. I sold my F3 and lenses for $4,000 back then and never looked back. Been through many models, currently using D810 mostly. I keep my D300 around for speed, still hoping for a D400 announcement.

As a pilot (fixed wing and Jetranger) I enjoy shooting air shows and air races. As a Christian I enjoy apologetics debates, exploring my passion for scripture and science, and writing articles for websites and magazines. As a musician I enjoy leading worship services with my wife for seniors at several Long Term Care homes each month. As a pet lover, I enjoy training my German Shepherds, and making GoPro videos with our tortoise.

Msmoto

@Jetranger

Welcome to NRF. We always enjoy someone with a positive attitude. Look forward to some of the air show stuff.

douglasgraham

I just retired last February from being a staff photographer for 35 years, thought I was going to hang up my cameras and 12 months later I'm still shooting! I even produced a book that comes out in the spring. I just signed a contract to shoot for a local magazine and also have a few assignment lined up for this summer. The difference in my shooting now is that Im shooting subjects that mean something to me and not just reporting the news for a pack of picky editors. Ive always used NikonRumors.com but just never had the time to log in and play and get to know some of you. Looking forward to hanging out online with all of you and learning a few things as we go along. Great to be here.

Msmoto

@douglasgraham

Glad you are here. Enjoy yourself on NRF and share some of your work.

One_Oh_Four

Hi all. My name is Erik. I'm from the Netherlands. Before the days of digital I used a Praktica SLR, couldn't afford more at the time! Later upgraded to a Minolta 7000 and a Minolta 7Xi. The lenses used were nothing to write home about, but I did manage some rather pleasing (at least to MY eyes! ) photos. Bought my first DSLR in 2007, a D80 with the 18-200 VR. That camera is now in the hands of my eldest son. Currently I use a D7000 and a D800 together with Nikon's Golden Trio. For aviation photography I lug the 80-400 AF-S along...

Cheers,
Erik.

Msmoto

@One_Oh_Four

We are happy you are now on NRF. Welcome. I just happened to have had a Minolta SR-3 as my first good SLR...early 1960's... )

We look forward to seeing your work.

One_Oh_Four

Thanks for the welcome!

Cheers,
Erik.

DaveyJ

I have been using the Nikon D7100 for video a fair amount. You could check out the Ice Palace last posting on Black Sky Entertainment on UTube (the lastest video) The cameras used were the D7100, Go Pro 3+, and the Sony video on the DJI Inspire drone. I personally feel that stills of fireworks don't work very well compared to video. The lens used on the D7100 was just the Sigma 10-20mm (wide angle) usually shot on 10mm.

MJH_Photo

Hi all,

My name is Mike and I live in Bristol, in the sunny South West UK, originally from Yorkshire. I'm relatively new to photography, but I've somewhat inevitably succumbed to the bug! My knowledge, appreciation and respect for photography have been thoroughly boosted by this site, and indeed many of your contributions, so I’m very thankful for that. I figured that I should actually sign up, rather than remain as a guest forever and appear only to ‘take’ rather than ‘give’ to the community here on NRF.

I’m an Ergonomist by profession, so I always enjoy ‘ergonomy’ discussions, and pay keen attention to the usability of technology. Over the years I’ve developed a sharp sense of when a product’s feature or function is just clever marketing, or whether the needs of the end-user have genuinely been considered during the design process!

I’ve been snapping for around 6 years now, with a D40 to start with, and a D3100 for the past 3 years, after feeling that I’d thoroughly learnt the basics on a simple camera (I happen to think the D40 was an excellent camera for genuine beginners, nothing compared to its more modern offspring though!) – I find myself slightly perplexed when I see other beginners diving straight in at D7100 > D610 upwards, because speaking from experience, I’m certain that I wouldn’t have been able to fully utilise the capabilities of said models when I was a beginner. My journey may be relatively new, but we all have to start somewhere, and I feel proud of what I’ve been able to produce so far, with the equipment I’ve invested in (Sigma 10-20mm, Nikon 35mm f1.8, 50mm f1.8 and most recently 105mm f2.8).

I’ve now progressed onto more complex projects, and surpassed something of a personal milestone last month when someone was willing to pay for my service as a photographer (promotional photos for a personal training/local gym). I now feel I’m regularly hitting the limitations of the trusty D3100 in most of my photography, so I’m on the cusp of taking a leap upwards and will be delving into the wealth of knowledge on NRF to help me with this soon (the obvious contenders on my radar stretch from D7100/D7200, through D600/D610 and reach towards the D750 if I stretch my budget!). I have my first wedding to shoot in July (helping a friend – but I say again, we all have to start somewhere), so I’m keen to invest in kit soon, so that I have time to develop a second nature with my new camera and hopefully lens (sigma 50mm f1.4??) before the big day (mine, not theirs!).

Anyway, I look forward to joining in the discussions and of course the ‘healthy debates’!

Cheers,
Mike

Msmoto

Welcome to NRF. Good choices in equipment.

DfLeppard

Hi, I have been a pro for about 20 years, and taking pictures for about 40. Was a Canon FD user but switched to Nikon when Canon dropped the FD. Started with a pair of FM2n cameras, then an FE2, F3 and finally an F100 before digital began to sweep everything before it (and Mamiyas, Pentaxs and Hasselblads for Medium Format). For a while film and digital ran parallel with a D100 but the D300 changed the game and film, for my clients, was dead. Since then D700, D3 and now the exceptional Df - shouldn't have sold the D700 (perfect D300 FX upgrade) didn't get on with the D3 but love the Df. Most of my work is travel, tourism and book illustration with a bit of music thrown in - have to see how the Df behaves/survives in the 'pit' this festival season!! great forum - have read it for a while so decided to join in

Msmoto

Super, welcome....we look forward to seeing some of your work.

Golf007sd

Very nice to see all the new photo enthusiast. Welcome

Photobug

Welcome back Golf007sd. Hopefully within the next month you will start posting images from your EU trip. Any magnificent churches on those memory cards?

jturrici

Hi,
My name is Joe and I live in New York City.
I love Photography and own the Nikon D7000. My firstdigital camera was an Olympus C3040 then moved to C5040 that I still own today. My first DSLR purchase was a Nikon D40 ( I loved this camera, and regret selling it).
I moved on the the Nikon D5100 , then D90, and latest D7000. For how long I owned DSLR's, I should be a semi pro LOL. But i learn new things everday. I use to mainly shoot in S mode and now playing around shooting in A and Manual modes. I have been shooting family/friend functions as a experience for myself. I dont charge them as I do it out of the goodness of my heart and to learn. I have been an active member at DPReview since 2003 and learned a lot from them. I am in the process of purchasing the Nikon 70-200 F4 so i can use it to shoot my niece's wedding. I love to take pictures of my kids and document their lives (24,000 pics and going), I think I only have max 50 pictures of myself from the fild days LOL.
Thank you for having me

BTW is there a way to change the settings on the forums to list newest listing first?