rocketman122
Senior Member
Came with d300 17-55/70-200 and other gear. I was just a 2nd photog but no responsibilities on me to deliver. Just was there to practice and "warm up"
some things i learned real fast. The d300 is not a very capable camera for low light. It had its glory days But ff is where its at.
He let me use his old d3 which had a replaced shutter which died at 800k clicks is what they said at the lab. He does tons of weddings a year and hits between 2500 to 3000 click each one.
He uses no flash jndoors. Shoots no less than 3200 iso and usually runs at 6400 regularly and sometime does 10000. Pics as what i saw on the monitor at his house are amazing. He uses d3s/d4 all nikkor pro glass but his favorites are 105vr and the 14-24 which was 70% of the wedding.
I was shooting with the d300/d3 and he told me keep playing withe d3. He knows me when i was in it using f5s (i shot his wedding) and he said the d300 is not for you. The pictures even look better on the screen. I was shooting 3200 no flash and the d300 went back in my bag for a lot of the time. Both have great build but the d3 had a special something to it. It was locking faster the pics on the screen looked alive compared to the dead boring output on the screen of the d300. I kept saying why does it look like crap on the d300. but i need time to bond with it.
He wanted to give it to me to keep using when i joined him at weddings but he knows i didnt feel comfortable. So he asked if i want buy it. I did. I bought it for less than a d7000 (whixh i was going to buy within a month) and i would do a free wedding gig for him as a 2nd photog. The camera is beat up. Looks like it went to hell and back but i couldnt give a rats ass.
My f5s looked like this from non stop work and they were tanks. My d300 is so nice and shiny haha but the biggest plus for me is shooting high iso because i hate the way Pics look with strong flash in peoples faces and no background lighting. I will bring 2 off camera speedlights to give ambient light but also for side lighting and to give pictures depth.
Some things i need to work on:
focus accuracy:
Not bad but needs honing. I did well though for not shooting for so many years. I got some really great shots though. With heavy filtering, out of the 550 pics at least, 150 are fantastic.
White balance and modes (vivid,neutral etc):
I come from film and this is something i know but need to put into practice. I must have been one of the last ones who was stubborn to move to digital from film cause i hated the colors and the plasticky look digital HAD. Its come a long way. But i also worked as a lab printer technician and my eyes are very sensitive to small color chnages so ill master it no problem. My pics yesterday were cooler and warmer than i wanted at times but ill learn it.
Shooting more:
Because i come from the film world i was selective and chose my pics. I was hunting for the right photo and when i missed a shot and had to do it 3-4 times i was frustrated i couldnt get it the first time. When i had b&g group shots with families, i usually did 3 pics. I tell them "im gonna do 3 shots". Yesterday when i saw him doing it, he say"ok,first one" click click click click click "one more" click click click click click "ok one more" click click click click. Haha. Its not 3 pics. Its 15! So he tells me shoot then erase. When before i was the hunter and waiting to get the shot by anticipating now its just shoot like crazy. Not sure about this type of style but well see
so all In all, i learned a lot, and want to keep learning. But it was exciting and very tiring. I feel drained. I bodybuild but an hour into shlepping the gear, i was aching. My biggest problem was no time to eat proper meals haha.
some things i learned real fast. The d300 is not a very capable camera for low light. It had its glory days But ff is where its at.
He let me use his old d3 which had a replaced shutter which died at 800k clicks is what they said at the lab. He does tons of weddings a year and hits between 2500 to 3000 click each one.
He uses no flash jndoors. Shoots no less than 3200 iso and usually runs at 6400 regularly and sometime does 10000. Pics as what i saw on the monitor at his house are amazing. He uses d3s/d4 all nikkor pro glass but his favorites are 105vr and the 14-24 which was 70% of the wedding.
I was shooting with the d300/d3 and he told me keep playing withe d3. He knows me when i was in it using f5s (i shot his wedding) and he said the d300 is not for you. The pictures even look better on the screen. I was shooting 3200 no flash and the d300 went back in my bag for a lot of the time. Both have great build but the d3 had a special something to it. It was locking faster the pics on the screen looked alive compared to the dead boring output on the screen of the d300. I kept saying why does it look like crap on the d300. but i need time to bond with it.
He wanted to give it to me to keep using when i joined him at weddings but he knows i didnt feel comfortable. So he asked if i want buy it. I did. I bought it for less than a d7000 (whixh i was going to buy within a month) and i would do a free wedding gig for him as a 2nd photog. The camera is beat up. Looks like it went to hell and back but i couldnt give a rats ass.
My f5s looked like this from non stop work and they were tanks. My d300 is so nice and shiny haha but the biggest plus for me is shooting high iso because i hate the way Pics look with strong flash in peoples faces and no background lighting. I will bring 2 off camera speedlights to give ambient light but also for side lighting and to give pictures depth.
Some things i need to work on:
focus accuracy:
Not bad but needs honing. I did well though for not shooting for so many years. I got some really great shots though. With heavy filtering, out of the 550 pics at least, 150 are fantastic.
White balance and modes (vivid,neutral etc):
I come from film and this is something i know but need to put into practice. I must have been one of the last ones who was stubborn to move to digital from film cause i hated the colors and the plasticky look digital HAD. Its come a long way. But i also worked as a lab printer technician and my eyes are very sensitive to small color chnages so ill master it no problem. My pics yesterday were cooler and warmer than i wanted at times but ill learn it.
Shooting more:
Because i come from the film world i was selective and chose my pics. I was hunting for the right photo and when i missed a shot and had to do it 3-4 times i was frustrated i couldnt get it the first time. When i had b&g group shots with families, i usually did 3 pics. I tell them "im gonna do 3 shots". Yesterday when i saw him doing it, he say"ok,first one" click click click click click "one more" click click click click click "ok one more" click click click click. Haha. Its not 3 pics. Its 15! So he tells me shoot then erase. When before i was the hunter and waiting to get the shot by anticipating now its just shoot like crazy. Not sure about this type of style but well see
so all In all, i learned a lot, and want to keep learning. But it was exciting and very tiring. I feel drained. I bodybuild but an hour into shlepping the gear, i was aching. My biggest problem was no time to eat proper meals haha.
