Retired USAF in West Virginia - Returning to Photography

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pnomanikon

Senior Member
Greetings to all! I am a professional musician (pianist - Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from West Virginia University and a retired pianist in the US Air Force Bands). I first became interesting in moving beyond the "snapshot" level when our son was born while I was stationed in Alaska from 1989-1996. Between family photos and traveling all over the state (Brook's Camp, Aleutian Islands, Denali, Kodiak, Dawson City YT, etc), I managed to burn through a lot of film (about 14K negatives and slides) in my limited spare time with my trusty old Nikon 8008s.

While I never took a photo class, I did a lot of reading and experimenting, and was also inspired at a workshop by the incredible Bradford Washburn in Anchorage back around 1992. It was enjoyable and relaxing, which is the main reason I liked doing it. Why else would I not be able to remember the name of someone I just met 10 minutes ago, but can look at photos I took 30 years ago and remember exactly where I was?

I sold my Nikon 8008s in 2003 to go digital and used a compact camera for my motorcycle trips. Because of some occasional mild dizziness, I recently decided to hang up my motorcycle helmet after 40 great years of riding. (My websites: www.RidingWV.com and www.MichaelElyard.com ) Therefore, my Canon SX160 and Nikon L830 Coolpix that I carried with me riding will now be augmented by a "big brother" for more serious work.

After much research, I purchased a Nikon D7200 / Nikon 18-140VR lens outfit to pursue my interest in outdoor/travel photography once again. I'm anxious to learn all I can about the D7200 to help me be both more creative and technically proficient. I've been studying Darrell Young's book for the past month. The camera is scheduled to arrive at my door tomorrow afternoon.

I take photos that I hope are easily enjoyed by others, while challenging myself to be creative and making the technical aspects (focus, exposure, etc) as good as I am capable of. Will my photos ever grace the cover of National Geographic? No, and that's OK with me. Will professional photographers look at my photos and be impressed. Not likely. Will I listen to constructive criticism and try to learn from it? Absolutely "Yes".

I plan to keep exploring and photographing all the back roads and Historical Markers in West Virginia and surrounding areas. Hopefully I will be able to share them on this forum and learn from others.


pnomanikon
Michael Elyard
MSgt, US Air Force (Retired)
 
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Don Kuykendall_RIP

RIP :(
Welcome to the forum. The Nikon D7200 / Nikon 18-140VR lens is a great combination. Now post some photos for us to enjoy

Guidelines to adding a photo to your post.

1. Resize photo to 1000px on the long side.
2. Resolution set to 72ppi (Pixels Per Inch)

These guidelines will be good for viewing on a computer but will not be good for printing. This will help safeguard your copyright.







 
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Whiskeyman

Senior Member
Welcome to nikonites.com, Michael, from another USAF graduate! Good luck with your new gear. Be very careful, or you'll end up wanting more! ;)


WM
 
cwgrizz

cwgrizz

Senior Member
Challenge Team
Welcome to the forum and I know you will be happy with your new D7200. Looking forward to seeing some of your work.
 
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pnomanikon

Senior Member
Camera arrived yesterday. Opened it up last night and charged the batteries (1 spare) and looked through all the settings. Wow! Lots to learn!

I set up the tripod by our patio door this morning and took a few bird photos by the feeder. I will try to get those posted soon.

Initial impressions:

Camera seems a lot heavier than my old 8008s, but that was 14 years ago when I was younger and stronger. LOL

My old eyes have a hard time focusing in on the viewfinder info screen, even though I adjusted the diopter to all positions. All the way + seems to be the best. I read some of the threads on that last night.

Still looking for a way to set the focus for just one center focus spot. When I was experimenting this morning with birds in the bushes, it wanted to focus on everything but the birds sometimes. I will do more research on that.

Overall, though, looks like a great camera that will last me a lot of years (if I don't be a klutz and drop it).

Thanks.
 
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pnomanikon

Senior Member
First try at posting a couple photos - just experimenting with the new camera on a couple of sparrows by the back porch. Raining hard off and on, so this is all I get to do today before heading to the church after lunch.


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Both photos shot in P mode with auto settings. The only thing I turned on was the ADL to normal range. Both were cropped in Photoshop Elements.

Looks like I need to re-check my clock settings. Not shot at 6am.
 
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Bikerbrent

Senior Member
pnomanikon said:
Looks like a great site. Thanks for the link. Still trying to figure out how to get to the single-point AF setting on my D7200. Will do more homework tomorrow.

Thanks again.
Click to expand...

Check out page 83 (focus) in your user manual. It tells you how to use the button in the middle of the AF/M selector to select single point AF/S mode.
 
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pnomanikon

Senior Member
Bikerbrent said:
Check out page 83 (focus) in your user manual. It tells you how to use the button in the middle of the AF/M selector to select single point AF/S mode.
Click to expand...


Just got home from church service and choir. I looked quickly at Pg 83 and, yes, that is what I need. I will work on it tomorrow - too tired tonight. Been staring at piano and organ music the past 8 hours.

Thanks again!

Mike
 
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pnomanikon

Senior Member
Finally had some time today and figured out the single-point focus. Works well with photographing birds on our suspended feeder. With multi-point, it wanted to shift back and forth with the distant background. I'm sure I had something not set correctly or it would have done better. More homework ahead.

I also set up U2 for 5-shot bracketing. Will try that out on Photoshop Elements and see if PE does a good job with combining them, or I may go with Photomatix Essentials if I need to. Looks like I will be learning all the functions of this camera for months (years!) to come. Love it so far.
 
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Don Kuykendall_RIP

RIP :(
One thing to consider it Back Button Focus. Many people here use it for a variety of reasons and I will not shoot any other way.

Back Button Focus is a great tool for so many photographers and is something I think everyone should try at least once. Below are a few sites that talk about the how and why of Back Button Focus.

Benefits of Using the AF-ON Button for Autofocus by Nikon USA


BACK BUTTON FOCUSING – EASIER THAN YOU THINK! by Improve Photography


Here is a good YouTube video that goes over the why and how of Back Button Focusing.

You can do a search of the forum on "Back Button Focus" or BBF and see the many threads that have been created on this subject.

Try it, You will like it.






 
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pnomanikon

Senior Member
Don Kuykendall said:
One thing to consider it Back Button Focus. Many people here use it for a variety of reasons and I will not shoot any other way.

Back Button Focus is a great tool for so many photographers and is something I think everyone should try at least once. Below are a few sites that talk about the how and why of Back Button Focus.

Benefits of Using the AF-ON Button for Autofocus by Nikon USA


BACK BUTTON FOCUSING – EASIER THAN YOU THINK! by Improve Photography


Here is a good YouTube video that goes over the why and how of Back Button Focusing.

You can do a search of the forum on "Back Button Focus" or BBF and see the many threads that have been created on this subject.

Try it, You will like it.






Click to expand...

Yes! The YouTube video was very helpful. I will look at the others after dinner. Thank you!

So much to learn............
 
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